Eulogy for an Angel
by xiMenagerie
Summary: His face closed into hers, his nose gliding along her jawline. "I'll always be there for you," Her green eyes looked up to him, love evident. "Forever and ever?" He landed a small kiss on her nose. "Hand in hand," One girl and one gangster makes life. SXS
1. Hanging by the Moment

_**Chapter 1: Hanging by the Moment**_

"_**Life is just a chance to grow a soul"**_

_The sounds pounded throughout the club, as a lone girl weaved her way through the club. Red strobe lights flashed wickedly among the walls as the music pounded from the amps hard as if it wanted the lyrics to be embedded into her brain. People around her were sweating and throwing their hands up in the air as she dodged them to avoid a collision to her head. Holding two plastic cups in her hands, she struggled to keep the beverage from spilling onto the floor. She giggled as she saw her companions dancing on the table they sat at. They swished their stiff hips and hollered at the ceiling as if they were captive wolves in a small cage._

_As she approached her friends, a dark figure from her left started running towards her. Turning her head slowly, her eyes widened slightly as she realized what the figure was intending to do. _

_The hands were rough and violent as he reached for her. He grabbed her roughly by the arms and clamped his hand upon her mouth. Her stifle screams were useless as her pals continue to scream hoarsely, attempting to sing along with a song. The man started dragging her towards the exit of the club, intending to leave without a trace of evidence. _

_The girl used the cups in her hands to attack the predator. It was useless. Her hands shaking, she reached out towards her friends, practically begging them to look at her way; just a glance would've been fine. _

_Unfortunately, they didn't seem to notice her being kidnapped in their drunken state._

"Sakura!"

_Suddenly, her vision began to dim and the strength in her bones began to weaken._

"Sakura!"

_Tears cascaded down her cheeks as she finally collapsed against the dark figure._

"Sakura!"

A stinging pain awoke Sakura; bringing her back into reality. Bright light struck her eyes as she gingerly raised her hand to shade them. Something hard struck her in the face. She let out an excruciating cry as her hand came up to touch her cheek gently. She could feel it growing swollen as she finally opened her eyes.

"Sakura! You idiot! It's 7:00! You're going to be late for school!" The girl at the doorway rolled her smoldering brown eyes as she flipped her purple hair over her shoulder. "I can't believe you; because of you I'm going to be late!" With a scoff she left the door.

Sakura sighed as she rubbed the sleepiness from her eyes. Turning her head slowly, she saw her high heel right next to her. The other pair was on the floor next to her bed. It was obvious that Ami threw those at her. Shrugging off the pain, Sakura got up and went to the restroom to wash her face. Her CD player began to play an old favorite song of hers, when she was back in America.

_When the night has come_

_And the land is dark_

_And the moon is the only light we see_

_No, I won't be afraid_

_No, I won't be afraid_

_Just as long, as you stand, stand by me-_

The beautiful voice that was serenading Sakura was immediately killed when Ami started knocking on the door. Loud and impatient.

"Sakura! Hurry up and get out! We have to go to school!" She shrieked. Once she was finished, she gave the door one last pound and walked away.

Sakura rolled her eyes and continued to take her time. The only reason why Ami wanted to go to school at 7:00 was because there was a "special" boy she wanted to see. He didn't even come to school until 7:15. And school didn't even start until 7:40. How pathetic was that girl?

After changing into her school uniform she slowly made her way downstairs to eat breakfast.

Her uniform consisted of long black leggings till it reached three inches below her knees and virgin flat heeled shoes. Her blue striped black skirt was worn until it reached two inches above her knees, as a white blouse, which was buttoned up to her neck. To top off the uniform, there was a blue tie that hung down her shirt. It gave Sakura the look of a mature, young lady ready to enter college.

"Otou-san! Sakura is going to make me late for school!" Ami whined obnoxiously as Sakura entered the kitchen. He was sitting on the table reading the daily newspaper with a mug of coffee in his hand.

"Sakura, if you make your sister late to school it will be you who will suffer the punishments for Ami." Her father said sternly. He looked at her above his thick-rimmed glasses and pinned her with a glare. "Do you understand?"

Sakura merely grunted and grabbed an apple. As she munched on it, her mother entered the kitchen with an apron on. There were two plates in her hands when she crossed the kitchen.

"Ayaka, you should teach that girl of yours respect." Her father said disapprovingly as he turned the page. "If she keeps talking like that, I should put her with the dog in the backyard."

Her mother looked at Sakura worryingly, and nodded. "Ami, eat your breakfast. Sakura," Motioning her towards the other room, her mother sighed as she looked at Sakura. She looked in the other room just in case her _father_ was coming in the present room they were in. "I know how hard it is for you to get along-"

"No. That's okay, mom." Sakura sighed as she looked at her mom's weary face. It was obvious she was not the only one suffering. "I'll try to deal with them." Before she even left the room, her mom grabbed her arm.

"No, don't try. Do it." Her mom patted her arm lovingly. "Having a step-father and step-sister is hard. At least give it a chance, honey. You don't know what you're missing."

Sakura tried hard not to roll her eyes. If she was missing anything then she wouldn't want to know what it was. Before she even had a chance to eat the breakfast her mom made, a car horn went off, outside of the house.

"Idate! He's here!" Ami screamed excitingly, got up from the table and ran out of the house. "Sakura, hurry up or your boyfriend and I will leave you!"

It was amazing that sometimes Ami forgot that Idate was Sakura's boyfriend. "Bye, Okaa-san. I'll see you later." Giving a blank look to her step-father, she started for the door. "Bye…Otou-san."

As soon as she was out the door, she felt something wet lick her hand.

"Huh?" She turned her head and saw her dog. "Aristotle!" She bent down and gave her friendly Doberman a rub around the ears. Aristotle wagged his tail and licked her hand again. The muscles under his skin were hard and flexed as he ran around the front yard and back to her again. In reality Aristotle was suppose to be Ami's dog when she was nine, but when she found out that it was going to grow big in the future, losing the cuteness, and that his ears and tail were cut off, she immediately disowned it for a piece of candy.

"Sakura, hurry up!" Ami yelled out in a nicer and teasing voice than this morning. Ami gave Sakura a smile so fake that someone could tell it wasn't real from a mile away.

"Be a good boy and guard the house and okaa-san, Aristotle." Saying her goodbye, Sakura walked towards the car. She sighed heavily when she realized Ami was sitting in the passenger's seat of the car. "Brat," She muttered as she entered the back.

"Sakura," Idate turned around from his seat and smiled at her. Two dimples were revealed from his cheeks. "Are you ready for school?" His deep dark eyes twinkled in mischief. His black hair teased his forehead as they swayed due to the movement of his head.

"You bet I am," She said sarcastically and sulked in the backseat. Today was her calculus test.

"I don't know about you but I'm ready!" He gunned his engine. "How about you Ami? Are you ready for school?"

"You know I am, handsome!" Ami squealed as Idate poked her on the side.

Once they reached school, Ami practically ran up the stairs of the entrance to see the "special" boy she had her eyes on. All the school boys' eyes followed Ami's shapely figure as she ran past them. She was the "Beauty" of Leaf High.

"Sometimes I feel that she forgets to thank me." Idate said solemnly as he exited his car.

"Why would she want to do that?" Sakura teased lightly.

"I am after all giving her a lift to school." Idate looked at Sakura seriously, as if it really did bother him. "A kiss would be nice." He grinned at Sakura's confused face.

"Let's go, Angel Face." Idate slung his arm around Sakura's shoulder as he used his nickname for her. Only he has called her that. "You know I'm just kidding."

Somehow she had a feeling that he wasn't joking.

They began to walk towards the school. As soon as they entered the building, they had to go separate ways due to the different classrooms they were in. Giving a haste kiss on her cheek, Idate went up the stairs and disappeared among the crowd of students.

"Sakura!"

"Sakura!"

"Sakura!"

Her friends swarmed her at the moment of her appearance in the classroom. Sakura laughed at her friend excited faces.

"Sakura!" Yamamoto Tenten pulled her towards the back of the classroom, her two buns bounced slightly from excitement. Her two other friends followed after them. "Did you hear that there's going to be a new student in our class?" Her chocolate brown eyes shone with interest. "Oooh, I wonder if he's going to be hot." She chuckled as she held up her hands. "I don't want to get wet at the sight of him though….Neji would be upset."

"Ewww that was disgusting, Tenten! Pervert," Yamanaka Ino wrinkled her nose at Tenten's perverted joke and shook her head. Her blond hair was tied back; it waved in the air as her bangs tickled her forehead. "I sometimes wonder if you were meant to be a boy."

"What?" Tenten looked at Ino with puppy eyes. "How can you say that?"

"It is possible," Hyuuga Hinata said as she fixed the temporary glasses on the bridge of her nose. "Did you know that most parents can go to a very expensive doctor and have the sex of their baby changed?" She scratched her head as her other hand twirled her straight purple hair around her finger. "Maybe that's why most of the Japanese boys are prettier than girls…"

Ino looked at Tenten. "I think that's what your parents must've done, because you're ugly!"

Sakura laughed at Tenten's angry face. She flipped her off, anger flaring in her eyes. "At least I have a boyfriend…" She muttered.

"Okay!" Sakura clapped her hands before they could even get in a fight. "Why don't we talk about-" Before she could even finish, her teacher walked into the room and smacked the table with a ruler. Immediately the students scattered towards their assigned seats.

The white haired teacher looked at his student with one narrowed eye; the silence of the room was tense and thick. Suddenly, his strict demeanor was broken and a huge goofy smile spread on his face. He scratched the back of his head and smiled. "Yo!"

"I knew he was joking!"

"What a meanie."

Kakashi-sensei continued to laugh as his students complained how he scared them. Rising up his hands he motioned for the students lower their voices. "Ya, ya," He grinned, putting his perverted book on the edge of his desk. He then turned serious. "Have you heard of a new student that's going to be joining _our_ class?"

The girls in the room squealed with excitement, while the boys rolled their eyes at their reaction.

"What do you think girls?" Mr. Kim asked. "Do you think he's going to be _hot_?"

"Yeah!" Tenten raised her fist in the air. Embarrassed at her action she scratched the back of her head while her classmates laughed at her.

Coughing into his fist, Kakashi-sensei motioned for someone to enter the classroom. "I would like you to meet a Japanese-American student from America. He has come all this way to learn about his culture and language. Class, meet Uchiha Sasuke."

Flawless.

That was the first word Sakura thought when she saw him.

An aura so profound consumed the student as he entered the room. He immediately scanned the class with those dark obsidian eyes, despising each and every student. They were sharp and intelligent, glittering with malice. His hair was perfect for his dangerous demeanor as it swayed gently yet mockingly before the teacher. It seems as if anger and bitterness was what made his hair stand on the edge. He looked like the kind of person that would gladly fight anyone who dared to breathe in his space.

The hair on the back of Sakura's neck stood up and she actually flinched as his eyes made contact with hers. Just like the other students, he looked at her and moved on. Right when his eyes left hers, Sakura took in a breath of fresh air. She didn't even realize that she was holding it in. It seems as if she wasn't the only one feeling the terror sensation. The other students stiffened as his eyes met theirs. The only one who didn't seem to notice the threat was Kakashi-sensei who was peeking into that perverted book of his.

"Suzuki Hideki is Sasuke's translator for the rest of the school year. He is also going to be joining our classroom." Kakashi-sensei explained about the scrawny boy who stood next to Sasuke. "If you have any questions, feel free to ask Hideki for translation."

The teacher turned towards Hideki. "Can you ask Sasuke to introduce himself to the class?"

The poor kid might as well pee in his pants to show the terror that was held in his frightened eyes. Stuttering, Hideki translated the teachers wish quickly.

It took a while for the Japanese American student to answer. "_**I don't like to socialize with useless people**_." He said in English. When he narrowed his eyes, the female part of the class gasped while the males flinched harshly. His voice was smooth, methodically deep and deadly.

It was hypnotic.

"Um, um," Hideki started to stutter. "Sasuke says that he hopes we will all be able to get along and be friends."

It was obvious that he didn't give the **exact**translation_._

"Good," Kakashi-sensei nodded, satisfied. He gave Sasuke a friendly smile, while Sasuke stood there with no expression. "Sasuke, Hideki, you may sit over there right behind Ino." Kakashi-sensei looked at Ino. "Ino, raise your hand so that they know where to sit."

Sakura saw her beloved friend's eyes widened as they neared the empty desk behind her. Her hand trembling, Ino slowly had her hand up in the air. She squeaked and averted her eyes as Sasuke looked at her.

It was devastating for Ino to have Sasuke sit behind her. Who knows? Within a second he could pull out a knife and stab her to death.

"Thank you, God." Sakura whispered as she thanked God over and over for having Sasuke sit all the way on the other side of the class. She couldn't help the relief.

His very image gave out danger.

"Now, going on with yesterdays lecture…" The teacher put his book down and started to drone on with the class as the students took notes. "From Stirling's formula, we know that n! is asymptotic to

n^n * e^-n * sqrt(2*Pi*n)

so (n!)^(1/n) - n/e

…and this clearly approaches infinity as n approaches…" Kakashi-sensei had a glint on his eyes as he studied the students in his class. "Hinata, when this is clearly approaching the infinity what is n approached as?"

Hinata sat up. "It clearly approaches the infinity as n approaches the infinity, Kakashi-sensei."

"Good Job. Now, the structure that is parallel to…"

Sakura was taking notes, when a piece of paper was thrown on her desk. Looking around she saw Tenten give her a small wave.

She opened it and read:

**Pink Devil,**

**OMG! The hottie looks like a killer! O.o; I don't think I'm approaching that piece of fine meat! T.T if he wasn't so dangerous looking than I would've already tried to grab his butt already! xD omg, E=mc^2 (AKA Hinata) is already getting everything down. I'm so stupid, but my athletic-ness makes up for it! Look at BeautyQueen's (AKA Ino) face! She looks like she's about to drop dead. Serves her right. XD**

**Weapons.**

Sakura looked at Ino's face to see that Tenten was right.

Ino's back was rigid and stiff as her ocean blue eyes quickly snapping right and left, they were looking around her surroundings for danger. She squeaked when the pencil in her hand snapped in half as the tension in her hand grew. Quickly, she desperately grabbed for another pencil in her pouch and began to scribble down notes as if her life depended on it.

Sighing, Sakura started writing back to Tenten.

**Weapons,**

**I can see that BeautyQueen is practically dying out there. I feel so sad for her. Luckily we're not the one in her position. Omg, E=mc^2 is so lucky. I wish I could have a brain. It practically functions like a computer. Yeah, that guy seems too scary to even approach. He doesn't look bad. I agree he's pretty good-**

"What do we have here?" Kakashi-sensei took the paper Sakura was writing on. Her eyes popped open as she realized that he was going to read it in front of the class.

"Sakura, what are you writing?" He observed the piece of paper with confusion. "What is this gibberish?"

When Sakura and the rest of her friends were young, they created a language only that they would understand. So when they wrote notes to each other, people around them wouldn't be able to read the writing.

"Um, that piece of paper?" Sakura questioned.

Kakashi-sensei nodded.

"Well, I was taking notes, but then I started doodling on a separate piece of paper." She gave an honest smile to her teacher as he rolled his eye.

"Pay attention, Sakura."

She nodded and went back to taking notes. The teacher went back to the front of the class and threw away the "gibberish". Sakura quickly grabbed a small piece of paper, wrote on it and threw it to Tenten. She looked for Tenten, eagerly waiting for her response.

Tenten nodded and threw the note away.

After school, they were going to go to the nearest ice cream store with Hinata and Ino to pig out.

Ice cream was good on a hot boiling day.

As she was writing down her notes, Sakura felt an eerie sensation running up her spine. She massaged her hand on the base of her neck nervously and looked around the room for the source of her discomfort. Nobody seemed to be looking at her. She couldn't find out what was wrong until-

Her forest green grey eyes met dark obsidian ones.

"_**A bad beginning makes a good ending."**_


	2. You're a Heartbreaker

_**Chapter 2: You're a Heartbreaker**_

"_**People living deeply have no fear of death"**_

She was frozen in time. She couldn't look away from those hypnotic dark eyes. It was as if she was being swallowed into the abyss. Her heartbeat stopped as the blood in her veins rushed through the arteries. There was no feeling in those eyes; any emotion, warmth, comfort or love could not be sought. It was cold. So cold that it was as if he had lived in a world full of sins.

She can feel a feral rage struggling inside of him.

Sasuke stared at her with no shame at all. Most boys would look at her than quickly turn their head, embarrassed for being caught looking at her. Almost everybody did that when they look at ANYBODY. There was no lust in his eyes, no love, and no anger.

It was annoyance.

When he narrowed his eyes it seemed as if the spell had broken. Quickly, Sakura whipped her head around and looked at the front of the class with huge eyes. Her heart started to beat fast and her hands began to tremble uncontrollably. She actually had a taste of fear just by looking at him.

Throughout the rest of the class time, Sakura ignored the new student and concentrated on what Kakashi-sensei was writing on the board.

RING!

"All right everybody." Kakashi-sensei rubbed his hands together as he gave the class a wide grin. "It's lunch time!"

The class sighed as they grabbed their lunch and exited the classroom. Sakura made sure to leave the class after the new student has gone out the door first. She didn't want to get into any trouble with that person.

"Sakura!" Tenten ran over to Sakura and grabbed her arm. "Come on. Let's go to the back of the school to eat this time."

Sakura chuckled and rolled her eyes. Tenten had a huge addiction eating in a nature-like place. Sometimes she would also choose the random-est places to eat.

"Haha, okay." Sakura smiled and hooked her arm with Tenten. "Lead the way, Princess." Tenten grinned at her and started walking towards the back of the school. Hinata and Ino were following them from behind, talking about the math equation Kakashi-sensei was explaining in class.

Sitting near a grassy plain, the girls took their time eating their lunch. There were a couple of bushes to the side next to them, which was heard that rabbits made their home there.

"Ah! My mom made me tempura for lunch!" Tenten broke her chopsticks in half and started gobbling it all down. She grabbed at the side dishes and stuffed her mouth until she couldn't hold in anymore.

"Pig!" Ino looked at Tenten's face with a disgusted look. "Can't you at least eat with manners? Sometimes, I think you were a pig in your past life." Ino picked up her seaweed soup and sipped at it. She smiled and looked at Hinata who was eating beef mandoo. "Isn't it said that seaweed is good for the skin?"

Hinata laughed and shook her head. "It is said that seaweed is good to reduce high blood pressure."

Sakura snorted like a horse as she saw Ino's face of dissatisfaction. "Ino, you're so caught up with your body. You're as skinny as a twig, you don't need to lose anymore weight!"

Before Ino could even reply, a long lusty moan was heard from behind the bushes near the girls. The bushes rustled as there were kissing noises and pants of pleasure.

Ino and Hinata looked at the other each with a horrified look. Sakura's face was scrunched up from laughing in silent mode. Tenten was pounding the ground with her hand to keep herself from laughing aloud.

Sakura and Tenten looked at each other with a mischievous look. Together they crept towards the bush, intending to scare the hell out of the couple who were making out in the bushes.

As they crouched near the bushes, Tenten held up her hand, giving a count off.

3

2

1

"SHAME ON YOU!" They shouted as they looked over the bushes with laughter. That laughter soon disappeared within a second.

The boy looked up at Sakura and Tenten with an angry face. It was then turned to shock.

"Angel Face?"

Sakura didn't even have a chance to see the girls face as she ran away from the bush. She started running back to the school with speed that would've made her PE teacher proud. She heard her friends calling after her but she ignored them and ran as fast as she could.

Your love is like a tidal wave

Spinning over my head

Drowning me in your promises

Better left unsaid

Without thinking she started running towards the stairs of the school; intending to go to the roof. Foolish she was as was her thoughts, Sakura kept going higher and higher until she blasted the door open. She stood there feeling the anger in her boil deep inside of her. It wasn't as great as the pain her heart was bearing.

She wanted to end it.

End the pain.

You're a heartbreaker, dream maker,

Love-taker, don't you mess around with me

Don't mess with me.

Don't mess with me.

Don't mess with me.

End the pain.

End it…

**End it**

Sasuke sat near the building with a cigarette in his hand. He took in a drag, savoring the delight of the smoke in his lungs. He slowly let out the smoke, watching as it dissipated in the air, mingling with the oxygen. He sighed and leaned against the railing hidden from view, just in case one of the teachers came to look for him.

Sasuke looked over the school, which was six stories high, observing the area until a loud bang interrupted his thoughts. Not really caring if he did get in trouble for the cigarette, he looked at who had interfered with his mind and froze.

It was the girl in his class.

With green eyes

And pink hair

He continued to observe her as he killed his cigarette.

Her skin was pale and milky white. If she was to get bruised by anybody then the bruise would blacken her skin and be shown sinfully to everybody without being shy. She had long thick pink hair that reached around the middle of her fragile back. Tendrils of pink caressed her porcelain skin, teasing her cheeks. Her hair seemed to absorb all the light around her, making it seem more intense with deep natural waves. Those green emerald eyes held much more feelings than what can be spoken.

She looked so delicate, so fragile and yet he sensed within her a core of steel.

Sasuke looked at her body.

She wasn't fat but she wasn't skinny. She had just enough meat on her to satisfy a man. He glanced at her legs and his chest rumbled. He looked away for a moment to curse at himself. He wasn't here to get along with anybody.

He was a vivacious bastard who allowed no one near him.

No one.

He was dangerous and he intended to keep up his demeanor that way. It was better to have people fear him than respect him. That way they don't do anything out of the ordinary to make any hostile attacks towards him.

Sasuke sighed and turned around to look at the girl again, merely wanting to observe her even more.

His heart practically stopped.

She stood on the cynical railing with perfect balance. The wind picked up blowing her hair everywhere. Her arms were at her sides, fisted as if in anger. They were shaking, clenching and unclenching constantly. Her head was turned up to the sky as if she was trying to find peace which cannot be sought.

She was going to jump.

Sakura looked down at the floor of the school, which was really far. She kept her balance as she thought longingly about Idate. This was what happened, how far he drove her to this point. Amazing, how she thought they were going to be together forever in tranquility and in love.

It was broken like glass.

She looked up to the sky and sighed. Sakura felt her body tilting forward to her death.

"_**HEY!**_"

Sasuke wrapped his arms around the girl's waist before she could even put her life at peace. He immediately yanked her back preventing what could be blamed on him. If she fell from the building and the staff has noticed he too was there, then they would immediately blame it on him. Especially with the reputation he has.

They landed on the floor with a thud. Sasuke felt the breath from his body rush out, leaving him breathless. His body cushioned her soft one from touching the floor.

Sakura gasped as her body came in contact with someone. She immediately rolled off the person.

Her apology was stuck in her throat when she saw it was Sasuke.

He looked at her with murderous eyes. He could feel his ribs aching painfully from the impact of her body. He felt her got off and looked at him with shock. It was her eyes that made time freeze as he stared deep into them.

There was a mixture of concern and fear.

Pain.

The pain in her eyes was raw and powerful.

He was still looking at her. He's never seen pink hair.

"_**Why is your hair pink?**_"

Sakura flinched when he spoke. His question was sharp and hard. He was probably asking what the hell she was doing trying to jump off of the building.

_Idate…_

Tears filled her eyes and she quickly bowed down her head before Sasuke could see them. But it didn't hide the harsh sobs that filled the air. Just the very thought of him already had her mourning.

"Why?" She said, forgetting the fact that Sasuke was there. She was needed to speak to someone: Anyone. "Why did he do that?" She pulled her legs towards her and leaned her forehead on her knees so she could obscure her face from the world. To hide the pain she was feeling. But there was too much for her to hold in, so she had to tell someone.

Sasuke sat there with the green-eyed girl and looked up at the sky.

He was just about to fall asleep against the railing, where she tried to commit suicide, until she started speaking in Japanese.

As she blubbered up, he was silent.

He didn't understand a thing she was saying.

"We've been together for two years and what happens in one day? I see him necking with some other chick he probably met for ten hours. How can he ruin the relationship like that?" Sakura snapped her finger to emphasize the timing. She felt a deep ugly bubble rising up through her lungs, ready to spill out the deepest and darkest of secrets.

Sasuke looked at her as she started talking. Suddenly, she started doing hand motions as she talked. They were soft and graceful. He looked at her hands as she was talking, trying to decipher whatever she was talking about.

"I love him. I love him." She confesses over and over. "But what happened? I didn't see any change. Does he not want me anymore? Why? Is it because I'm ugly?" Sakura clenched her fists and actually felt like growling. "What is wrong with him?"

Her eyes began to water when an awful smell surrounded her. She coughed lightly and then kept coughing harder and harder. She felt as if her throat was being tightened.

Sasuke sighed angrily and killed his cigarette once more. It wasn't even reaching the middle of the stem by the time he threw it to the side. He looked at the girl who was still coughing. He rolled his eyes and swiped his hand through the air, hoping that it would help the smell go away faster.

He was an arrogant bastard but he wasn't a dick.

Sakura was finally able to breathe. She looked at Sasuke. He was resting his head against the railing with his eyes closed. He looked like he was at peace. As if he wasn't dangerous and lethal.

She actually stopped talking about Idate and stared at Sasuke's profile. His angry eyes were relaxed when closed, as was the wrinkles from glaring at everybody all the time. His mouth seemed like it was the softest part of his presence. His skin was clean of pimples and zits that dared to cling to him. His look was grave, and his beautiful mouth unsmiling.

When Sasuke didn't hear the girl talk anymore, he thought she left. He opened his eyes to find her studying him with those alluring eyes.

He stared back at her.

Her eyes held something he's never seen before. He couldn't tell what it was.

It wasn't hate.

It wasn't anger.

It wasn't love.

It wasn't lust.

It wasn't fear.

It wasn't curiosity.

What was it?

Getting uncomfortable, he started to get up. He ran his hair through his hair and coughed. He was about to leave when he felt her grab at his sleeve of the school's uniform. He turned around and stared at her.

Sakura bowed low to show her gratitude to him. He listened and stayed even if he didn't understand her language.

Sasuke stood there looking at this girl strangely.

"Thank you,"

"_**Love is nothing but a bankruptcy of love and affection."**_


	3. A Night of Terror

**Chapter 3: A Night of Terror**

"_**Fear breeds fear"**_

After school finished, the four girls immediately went to the nearest ice cream store, which was only about three blocks away from school. Along the way, the three girls chatted excitingly while one was sulking and depressed about the incident.

"Ah! Strawberry seriously has to be the best ice cream to exist!" Tenten licked her lips in satisfaction from the sweetness of her delight. "I shouldn't be eating this. This is the last thing my waist needs, but I can't help trying to be healthy!"

Hinata shook her head in disagreement. "Chocolate: It was scientifically proven that chocolate makes you live longer and-"

"No way!" Iberry ice cream is the best. It's so healthy for your skin that-"

"Yes, raspberry's good and healthy. But I don't think it is in ice cream." Tenten snorted. "Girl, eat something healthy if you want a good body. You know. Big plastic-surgery boobs, thin structure with a tiny waist to make you look delicate. By then the guys can't keep their hands off of you."

Ino blushed at Tenten's descriptive explanation. She then turned to Sakura. "Sakura, can you believe this…Sakura?"

Sakura was staring off in the distance until Ino shook her by the shoulder. "Uh?" finally, out of her trance, Sakura looked at her friends with a dumbstruck expression. "Did you ask something?"

"Sakura!" Tenten stood in front of her with an angry face. "Stop sobering over Idate! There are other fishes in the ocean!" She swung her ice cream around wildly. "That man wouldn't even look good in a thong!"

Tenten: :[

Ino: #O.o#

Hinata: (._.)a

Sakura: -_-;

Sakura sighed. She knew her friends were trying to cheer her up after what happened at school. But at the moment she felt like she needed some space. "I just need some time to think." She looked at her vanilla ice cream and sighed depressingly. She threw it away, and turned on her heel. "I'm going home." She shuffled her way around the corner and began a long journey to Hell.

Her heart was constricted

The pain became unbearable

Her love was convicted

Is this even-forgivable?

-unforgettable

-understandable

…horrible?

The heat began to rise as she neared her house. The sun was setting yet the temperature was still high and steady. Perspiration clung to her face; the breaths became heavier that Sakura was forced to remove her long sleeve jacket and stockings. She unbuttoned the first four buttons of her blouse to let the cool breeze lick her skin; the air was cool and sweet. She was careful to keep her white lacy bra hidden from sight.

She was willing to forgive Idate for what happened. It was idiotic thing to do but the memories of them two together for two years couldn't just disappear just because of one stupid mistake. Sakura didn't know who the girl was but she was willing to forget what happened if Idate would promise to her not to do it again.

She sighed. She's even more pathetic than Ami.

"Okaasan, I'm home!" Sakura dropped her stuff next to the door. Sighing, she wearily made her way to the living room with her cell phone in hand. "I think I'm going to go walk Aristotle around the block and meet up with Idate-"

Her cell phone hit the floor with a loud clatter.

Her eyes widened with horror.

Her tears began to flow like wine.

Her heart broke into delicate fragments.

Ami was on the couch with Idate, who already had his hand in her shirt as they were making out. There was numerous numbers of love bits on her neck and on his shoulder. Their lips were locked tight as their hands wandered around in places which should be illegal.

He was making out with Ami.

Ami was the girl behind the bushes.

The reality went through Sakura like a knife.

"What the-?" Idate lifted his head to look at Sakura. His eyes widened as he tried to get off of Ami. "Sakura-"

"Sakura," Ami held tight onto Idate's neck so that he wouldn't budge from their love position. "Be a good girl and close the door. You're letting the air get in and I might get sick." Ami looked at Idate with those wicked black eyes. "Idate, warm me up." She then pulled his face down to hers.

Sakura ran out of the house as if the devil was chasing after her. Adrenaline shot through her veins as the image of Ami and Idate on the couch reappeared in her mind. Her legs kept putting themselves in front of the other in repetition until she swore they felt like noodles. Her lungs began to burn until it went numb.

The sun began to set.

Finally, she came to a stop and dropped on all fours on the sidewalk. Sweat poured down her face, as her vision started to blur. Sakura's legs shook with weakness; her body was tired and beat up. But it still didn't match the agony in her heart.

"Idate…" She whispered heartbrokenly.

Pushing away the fact that she was exhausted, Sakura got up and started walking down the street, where she started running from.

Sakura slowed as she felt the sensation of someone watching her from the shadows. She was heading down the street, thinking about taking a taxi and get home before it gets any darker.

Looking around, she half-expected to see some humble, friendly people behind her.

She didn't.

What she found were four scruffy-looking men who were eyeing her with dark, lustful eyes. They were keeping to the shadows as if they didn't want her to identify them. Fear assaulted her. It was a bit too intense and threatening as they picked up their pace and walked faster.

She glanced about, looking for other people, but at this time of night, there wasn't anybody around.

Nobody.

In a panic, she began to speed up and the sound of running feet behind her alarmed her. Just as Sakura was sure they would run past her, one of the men grabbed her and slung her into an alley. One of the men went to the opening of the alley and kept watch for their illegal activities.

Sakura threw back her arm and elbowed the man, who had her, in the stomach as she tried to runaway.

He was unaffected. He slapped her hard in the face and shook her violently by the shoulders. "Give me your money, bitch!" He yelled causing spit from his mouth to land on her face.

She gave out a cry and used all the force to push him away. He merely stumbled back and she immediately took the moment to run. Unfortunately, one of the other men grabbed Sakura by the blouse and pulled hard.

A loud shredding noise ripped through the night.

Sakura lay on the asphalt with a terrified look on her face. The buttons on her blouse were on the floor due to the process of the man grabbing at her. Her white lacy bra was in view as the porcelain skin of her stomach was to the men. She struggled to breathe as panic and fear consumed her.

The glint in their eyes made her heart constrict in horror. She immediately grabs the torn blouse to cover her body and staggered upwards. "Please…" She whimpered, terror sharpening the sound of her voice. "Please, don't hurt me." She knew it was useless to beg but she was taking any chances to buy some time.

"Hey." The man who ripped her blouse grinned evilly. It revealed yellow, crooked teeth covered with plague. "Let's have fun with her." He stated.

"No!" She shrieked and tried to open the gate.

It was useless.

Before anyone of the muggers can move, the one who tore her blouse flying to the ground. He was out cold. The other three muggers cursed as they pulled out knives from their pockets.

Someone emerged from the darkness.

Sasuke merely gave the muggers a bland glance and looked at the helpless girl on the ground. His eyes widened slightly as he realized it was the girl with pink hair. She was the one who bawled and cry her heart out to him even if he didn't understand her.

This was annoying.

He should just turn around and leave her alone…

His eyes took in her appearance and his eyes narrowed menacingly as an unknown fire flared deep inside of him.

He looked like some coiled, wild beast ready to strike.

"Hey," The one holding the knife smirked at Sasuke. "Why don't you get the fuck out of here before I slice your throat." He flipped the knife skillfully in his hand and chewed the gum in his mouth mockingly.

Sakura wanted to cry as soon as she saw Sasuke. There was a feral gleam in his eyes, glittering with hunger as he placed himself between herself and the muggers. He was still wearing his school uniform, seeming as defenseless and foolish to the muggers. But his eyes showed experience. He held his jacket in his hand with the other one in his pocket. He could easily kill them and not even wince as their blood coated his hands.

Sasuke stood there and didn't say anything back to the mugger.

He finally narrowed his eyes at them. One of them flinched and took a step back slowly.

"_**If you leave now, I won't break the bones in your body. But if you don't…**_"

Before he even had a chance to finish, one of the mugger's jumped at him.

Sakura staggered back and stared in horror as Sasuke's body clenched. He quickly threw the jacket at the ground as one mugger came at him with his knife. Sasuke moved quickly, catching the man's wrist. The man gave a half gasp before Sasuke delivered a strong punch to the stomach. Immediately, the man crumpled where he stood.

"Get him!"

Another came at Sasuke's back only to be flung over his head to the ground. The third rushed from the side, with a pocket knife. He sliced it at Sasuke, catching the side of his uniform. Before he can smirk in victory, Sasuke's leg lashed out and neatly broke the attacker's leg.

As the man started screaming, Sasuke pulled back his hand and knocked him unconscious.

The two muggers cursed and ran, leaving behind the other two who were unconscious. One of them didn't make it.

Before Sakura could blink, Sasuke lunged at the helpless man who tried to escape. He was fast, lightning fast, as he grabbed the edge of his sweater. Sasuke seized him by the neck and threw him up against the side of a building where he held the mugger effortlessly. The mugger's feet were practically dangling off the ground.

"_**Didn't I warn you**__**？**_"

"Please, don't kill-" The mugger's words were cut off, including his breath. Sasuke's hand tightened around his neck hard, so that the mugger's face was turning purple and his eyes were bulging out of his eye sockets.

Sasuke wanted to end his pathetic life. This measly idiot who dared to attack him behind his back. With his other hand, Sasuke reached into his back pocket, fingering the handle of his blade, ready to plunge it into the man within an instant. Before he could even eliminate the man, Sasuke heard a sniffle from behind.

Sakura-

He forgot all about her.

Reluctantly, he slowly released the man who dropped down hard upon the concrete floor. Doubling over, he coughed and wheezed as he struggled to breathe.

"_**Get out of here before I kill you,**_"

Trying to regain some composure, the man stumbled down the street, shivering in fear. He knew that if the girl was never there in the first place, the foreign man would've killed him without mercy.

Sakura was so relieved that the nightmare was over that she started to cry.

"_**Stop crying.**_"

She cried with little whimpers here and there, unable to control himself. Her watery eyes looked up at him to see anger darken his eyes as he glanced at her torn uniform. She could tell that he wanted to chase them down. Worse. He could be wanting to kill them.

Sasuke ran his hand through his hair and sighed. He grabbed his jacket from the floor and propped it around her shoulders. He crouched down and helped her arms into the sleeves due to her current state. He made sure that it was buttoned all the way so that none her skin wasn't showing. She flinched as his hand came close to her bare skin of the stomach. He merely ignored her and kept buttoning the jacket. Her crying has lessened by the time he finished.

After he finished he stepped away from her. He was angry with himself. He wanted to leave her here to fend for herself, as he had back in America. Something inside of him wouldn't let him do that and he didn't know why.

"Okay…you are?"

Sakura's head whipped up as she looked at Sasuke with a surprise face. She was mesmerized, for a moment, by the way the moonlight cut across his handsome features. He looked frustrated as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. He shook his head and opened his mouth again, speaking with a slight accent.

"Are you okay?"

He was trying to speak Japanese.

Smiling, despite her current state and mood, Sakura staggered up, using the wall for support. She nodded as she wiped the tear streaks off of her face. "I'm okay." Pushing herself from the wall, Sakura tried to stand but her legs buckled beneath her.

Sasuke was too late to reach her. Her knees hit the concrete hard as her palms were splayed out on the ground. He heard her take in a deep breath and had a feeling that she was going to cry.

Instead she looked up at him and gave him a weak smile.

Sakura bit the insides of her cheeks from keeping herself from crying out in pain. She couldn't defend herself from the muggers, and she didn't want to make it look like she was that weak. Slowly, she stood up, making sure that she wouldn't fall again.

Sasuke sighed and turned around.

He took a step.

He should leave her.

He should let her walk home by herself.

He should let her cry alone.

Sakura looked at Sasuke as he bent down in front of her. He crouched there for a while, looking like an idiot. He turned his head around and spoke something foreign. She only looked at him with a confused face.

He rolled his eyes and then approached her, ignoring the way she jerked away from him. He turned around as he placed her arms around his neck and picked her up. She squeaked and started to struggle.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Sakura held tight onto Sasuke's neck and she tried to get down from his back.

"Stop it." He ordered in Japanese. Immediately, she stopped moving.

Hitching her higher onto his back, Sasuke started walking down the street, holding onto her legs so that she wouldn't fall down. His rough callused hands signified strength.

Sakura blushed as she could feel Sasuke's hands on the back of her bare thighs. Her face was burning with embarrassment. But she knew that if she even dared to say anything he would merely ignore her. His intention wasn't even sexual.

"Thank you, Sasuke."

That was the only think she knew how to say in English.

Thank you.

Sasuke stopped walking when he heard those words coming out of her mouth. He actually savored the sound of those rare words. It felt awkward as those went through him.

Some inner, wild part of him flickered slowly to life.

He shook his head, and burned out the flare, and continued to walk. He shouldn't be feeling these emotions that were roaring inside of him. He should ignore them or they would be his weakness against the enemies he faced from the past. He felt her hot tears scalding his back through his shirt and sighed once more.

It sounds so sweet  
Coming from the lips of an angel  
Hearing those words it makes me weak

Sasuke cursed as the girl's head lolled on his shoulders without sense of direction. Now he was in big trouble.

The little brat fell asleep on him.

"_**Exploration is the real essence of the human spirit"**_


	4. Pictures of You

**Chapter 4: Pictures of You**

"_**No matter how much you want to stop time, it has to go forward and move on to something else."**_

Sakura's eyes opened groggily.

"Oh, man." She rubbed her eyes trying to remove the sleep from them. She slowly got up and yawned. Sakura scratched the back of her head wondering why Ami didn't run in her room and start screaming at her like usual.

Ami…

Idate…

The images from yesterday rushed through her head, the hatred screaming from her like sirens and she felt the familiar pricks from the back of her eyes start again. Her lips trembled slightly, and she scrunched up her eyes in hurt and agony. Her chest tightened up in grief and pain. Her head fell limp next to her hand, and willed herself not to cry.

It was all interrupted with a light snore.

"Huh?" Sakura looked over to her side.

"What in the world?" She then took a second glance around her room.

It wasn't her room.

Almost immediately, his snore stopped by her whispers. He was lying on the floor with a single white sheet of blanket to cover him, protecting him from the cold. His one muscular arm was resting upon his chest as the other rested over his forehead, blocking the sun's radiation from hitting his eyes. His face was at peace. Sakura's hand itched to smooth out his eyebrows with her thumb and pat down the messy bob he calls a hair. Sakura looked closer to his neck to see that there was something black clinging to his skin. She didn't want to investigate for whatever it was would cost her life if she dared venture close to him. It seems as if he didn't even bother to change clothes after last night.

Shaking her head from side to side, Sakura, out of instinct, reaches in the pocket of her skirt for her cell phone. The sudden memory of dropping it at her house hit her.

There was no clock in the room to tell time.

"I gotta go home." Sakura whispered to herself as she slid out from the covers. Her feet silently hit the cold, hard floor and she began to walk to the door, hoping she could get out without waking up Sasuke. The creaks on the floor made her feel so much better about her weight.

Somehow she was able to walk out of the room and was soon walking down a hallway and trying to look for a restroom around this unknown area. After a few seconds of looking around, she entered the restroom, closed the door from behind and looked at her face in the mirror.

Her eyes were bloodshot from all that crying yesterday. Slight dark circles lay comfortable underneath her eyes on her sickly pale face. Her hair looked as if birds had made their permanent home in it. She touched her cheek and winced at the bruise the man from last night had given her. She hated the fact that she bruised as easy as an apple.

With a longing look in her eyes, Sakura looked at the shower. It wouldn't be THAT noisy…

Ten minutes later she stood in front of the mirror combing her hair with her fingers to detangle the knots. She still wore her school uniform with Sasuke's jacket on top. Her blouse, it appeared, was impossible to cover herself with. It tore from the collar of her neck to the sleeve and made a drastic turn across her back.

"Okay," Sakura smoothed out the jacket and looked at herself in the mirror. "I look good." She was trying to be as optimistic as possible, looking out for the positives on this wonderful day.

She looked like a drowned kitten.

Sighing, Sakura opened the door and walked into a wall: A well built strong wall.

Sasuke stared at her. Her hair was wet and she was scrubbed clean from head to toe. She smelled nice; she had a floral essence surrounding her as if it were natural. He clenched his teeth as he saw the bruise from the attack yesterday; he could taste the raw harshness of his anger. It was ugly, and the color purple mostly took up the space from her cheekbone, diminishing as it reaches the edge of her eye.

Sasuke grunted in satisfaction and walked down the hallway. Sakura slowly took in a deep breath, when she had forced herself not to flinch back as Sasuke narrowed his eyes at her. She couldn't tell whether he was angry that she took a shower without his permission or he was angry that she was still wearing his jacket.

Being with a foreign student sucks.

As she walked behind him, she noticed that he had changed his clothes from last time to his uniform. Sakura couldn't see what the black "thing" that was clinging to him, for the collar of the school's uniform covered his neck. Walking farther down the hall, Sakura saw Sasuke "preparing" breakfast. He grabbed California rolls from the refrigerator and laid it out on the table. Grabbing a glass from the cabinet, he began to fill it with water as Sakura stood awkwardly at the side. Sasuke placed it on the table and turned to Sakura. "Eat."

She stared after his disappearing figure as he walked down the hall into his room. She shrugged and started to eat the California rolls he laid out on the table for her. Within minutes, she finished half of it. She hasn't eaten anything since yesterday's lunch. She didn't even finish eating half of her ice cream and lunch yesterday.

"Here,"

Sakura turned her head and saw Sasuke hold a grey T-shirt in his hand, and held it out to her. She tentatively took it as he roughly handed it to her. He then looked outside of the window, his brows scrunching up in a thinking manner. "School 7:40 start. Time 7:00 now."

Sakura stared at him dumbfounded and confused; he was still trying to talk in Japanese. She smiled awkwardly because she didn't understand a word he said. "What?" She turned her head slightly to the right in question.

"_**Damn**_," Sasuke sighed angrily and combed his fingers through his hair in frustration. He stormed to his plain room and swiped up an American-Japanese dictionary from his desk. Gripping it tight in his hand, Sasuke walked towards the fragile girl and rushed through the pages furiously until he finally was able to say his thoughts.

"School starts at 7:40. The time is 8:00 now." He closed the dictionary with a snap that made Sakura's head flinch and she took a whole step back. "Hurry up and change into this, so we can leave for school." He pointed at the gray T-shirt she had in her hand and motioned to the restroom, indicating that she should go to the restroom and change quickly.

Sakura stood there for a moment, thinking slowly about what Sasuke was trying to say. Within a second, her mouth fell open and she gasped in horror. "Its 8:00 right now?" She whipped her head towards the window to see that the sun was high in the sky and the birds were chirping cheerfully. She streaked down the hallway and slammed the bathroom door shut to change quickly. "I can't believe I'm late!" Toeing on her shoes, Sakura rushed out of the house, and started running down the street.

"_**Hey**_!"

Sasuke snatched the girl by the upper part of her arm and pointed to his car. The idiotic girl doesn't even know where to go from his place to school. "_**I'll drive you to school**_." He said in English. He still held her by her arm and started to tug her to his car around the corner of the street.

Since she was near him, she was practically his responsibilities since he also sheltered her.

"Wait!" Sakura struggled against his tight hold. "I have to go to school or I'll miss notes and more important information for college!" She was getting frustrated that she didn't understand a single word he was trying to say and she was really desperate to go to school.

Sasuke clenched his teeth. He turned towards her and growled out. "School. Car. Go."

Forty three minutes later, after the silent long drive, they finally arrived at the prestigious school. Sasuke turned the off the engine to the car and leaned back in his leather seat, staring gravely at the school's building. He looked at the girl next to him to see that she was picking at the gray T-shirt he gave her.

After a moment or two, Sakura opened the door carefully and got out of the car. Before she closed it, Sakura looked at Sasuke with gratitude. "Thank you." She bowed low and then pointed to herself with a smile. "My name is Haruno Sakura. Sakura." With nothing more than a smile, she closed the door and walked on the sidewalk to the school.

Sasuke stared at her figure as she disappeared among the crowd of students.

"Sakura…."

Her name is Sakura.

Sakura.

"Where the hell were you? I called your house so many times to find you, only to hear your mom crying and practically bawling her e yes out hysterically! Where did you go after the ice cream we ate yesterday?" Tenten screamed when she reached Sakura, who was walking down the corridor the classrooms. Hinata and Ino were trailing after Tenten. Hinata looked at Sakura worryingly as any mother would, while Ino merely looked at her with a blank expression.

"I had to lie for your mom and tell her that you were sleeping over at my place!" Tenten whispered quickly so Ino and Hinata couldn't hear. "When she asked for you I told her that you were in the shower. I even had to have my mom lie a bit!" Tenten pouted and sniffed wistfully. "My butt turned as red as the bow in Ino's hair last night."

Sakura sighed in relief and gave her friend a small hug. "I owe you so much Tenten. Thank you."

"Yeah, yeah, you owe me an explanation and a tuna sandwich."

Sakura smiled and rolled her eyes at her random reward. "Okay, okay, but I'll tell you everything all later." After the girls entered the room, Sakura walked up to the teacher's desk to inform him why she was late. He nodded knowingly and waved her excuse to the side, not caring in the world why she was late. "Stay next to my desk for a while, I have to explain something to you." She nodded and stood aside.

"Okay class!" Kakashi-sensei clapped his hands three times, so that the students would settle down and give him his attention. "Now, get with your partners from yesterday." While the class was busy getting together with their partners, Sasuke finally entered the room; after thirty minutes Sakura departed from him.

"Ah, Sasuke come over here." Kakashi-sensei waved at him.

Slowly but obeying his teacher's order, Sasuke walked towards the desk. Behind Sasuke was Hideki who was following him meekly from a distance.

"So, yesterday, while you two suddenly disappeared," Kakashi-sensei explained with an arched brow. From his expression it seems as if the class had found out a better explanation for the two. Sakura's face flushed and she quickly put her hand to her face to try and make it disappear faster. "Every year, around this time of the year," Kakashi-sensei started. "I start with something that will benefit the class in the future," Reaching around his desk he pulls out an object out from a box that caught Sakura off guard.

A rubber doll.

"This isn't just a rubber baby, it is electronically able to cry and eat." He explains as he points out the one thing that's going to drive Sakura insane for the next few days.

Suddenly a possibility hit her and she cringed slightly as she eyed the object. "If the "baby" can eat and cry then does that mean that it's also able to," Sakura hesitated hoping to be wrong, but preparing for the worse. "Dispose of waste?"

"Correct." Kakashi-sensei nodded and pointed his finger at Sakura, and gave her a thumbs up. "You are very smart. Now, Sakura you are the mom and Sasuke is the dad in this little project. Each of you is required to keep the baby for a minimum of two days" He then looked at Hideki. "You'll just have to be the son/translator in this group. Sakura, Sasuke you have this packet for instructions. If you have any more questions, go ahead and ask me."

With a wave of his hand, Sakura and Sasuke were dismissed. They ended up sitting side by side at a desk close to Hinata and her partner, Uzumaki Naruto.

"EWW! It's pooping!" Naruto's blue eyes widened when a dark sludge leeked out of the baby's bottom.

"O-oh, g-g-god," Hinata stuttered. Whenever she was around Naruto, she began to stutter uncontrollably.

It was obvious that she liked him.

"Okay…" Sakura cough uncomfortably in her fist as she laid the fake baby on the table. She opened the manual Kakashi-sensei has given them for the project.

Turning to the first page it read:

CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE A GIRL! NOW GIVE HER A NAME!

It took a moment for Sakura's mind to understand what the booklet was trying to tell her. She slowly turned to Sasuke, stared at him and then to Hideki. "We have to give the baby a name. Can you translate it to him?"

Hideki looked at Sasuke with wide eyes and translated it quickly in a soft, trembling voice.

He merely looked at him with his dark eyes and ignored his question. Sasuke crossed his arms across his chest and leaned back in his chair. He scrutinized his translator with those predator eyes. Never looking away.

Dark.

Studying.

Deadly.

Hideki fidgeted in his chair under those dark obsidian orbs. He pushed his glasses up his nose nervously and tapped the table with his fingers on an ongoing uneven rhythm. "I have to use the restroom." He choked and immediately, practically ran out of the room. He would be anywhere away from Sasuke.

"Wait, Hideki!" Sakura raised her hand towards him, but it was useless. In a second he was gone.

She sighed hopelessly and looked at Sasuke who started to stare at her with his brooding eyes. Her brows scrunched up in anger, Sakura stared at him back. His obstinacy was unbearable and inexcusable. She only sighed and looked at the baby; not wanting to fight him for something and get him even more angry.

"Fine, I'll name her." Sakura wrote the English American alphabet on a piece of paper from her folder. She then presented it to Sasuke. "Choose a letter."

He stared blankly.

"Choose." She pointed to the letters as she talked to him, hoping that he would somehow understand. No avail. He looked at her with those mysterious eyes and then looked away towards the window; eyes that held no interest in nothing at all.

Sasuke didn't want to do anything. He wanted to get school over with and go back to his place. When the girl, Sakura showed him the alphabet, he immediately recognized it. Learning it back in America, his friend was kind enough to teach it to him, creating a somewhat of a friendship between the two.

No, he was ordered to.

Memories flooded to his head, which sent his skull on fire. Sasuke silently turned away from Sakura and stared out the window so that she doesn't see the weakness in him he has hidden long ago.

The vulnerability in him.

"Sasuke,"

Sakura was finished trying to being nice and patient to a stone cold man. Yeah, he helped her and saved her from a bunch of muggers, but his manners and attitude was driving her insane to a point where she wanted to screw her eyeballs out. He was quiet, at a distant and ignores everyone around him. It was making her spin in a gyration.

"Pick a letter." She growled and rudely held the paper up to his face. She glared at him over the paper with her ferocious vicious eyes, determined to make him participate no matter the consequence.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes dangerously, glaring at Sakura over the edge of the paper. Amazingly, she didn't flinch; he had to give her credit for that. Angry, Sasuke viciously poked a hole in the piece of paper. He pushed his chair back, the metal scraping along the floor creating a scratchy shrill noise, bringing the attention from the class to them. He exited out of the room with a fluid motion to kill.

_You don't knock on the devil's door, unless you want him to answer_

Sakura placed her hand over her heart and took in a deep breath; it was still racing from the killer eyes he gave her before he left. Sakura put the paper down on her desk and just noticed how hard her hands were trembling. Getting a grip of herself, she looked down at the paper and saw a letter missing from the alphabet.

G

Now to pick a name….

Nothing came.

Sakura rubbed her head in frustration, trying to choose the name for the mechanical "being".

What kind of pretty name starts with a 'G'?

"_**If you're going through hell, keep going"**_


	5. Goodnight and Go

_**Chapter 5: Goodnight and Go**_

"_**A dream itself is but a shadow" **_

"So you're going to take care of that demon baby all by yourself?" Tenten walked besides Sakura down the crowded street. They were trying to look for a restaurant to eat. "…without any help from sexy man called your partner."

Sakura nodded solemnly and continued to silently walk alongside to Tenten.

Tenten eyes widened drastically and she shook her head in pity for her dear friend. "Once that mechanical demon baby activates at 12AM and is full of life till 6AM in the morning, you'll be dead. You'll be crying and trying to bribe your own partner to take the damn kid!" She threw her hand in the air, waving them around with emotion. "Last night I practically died! I'm so happy that Neji took him today."

"Him?" Sakura questioned.

"It's the demon baby's name. His name is Nobuo." She rolled her eyes and scoffed at the name her partner picked. "It was Neji who named him. Unlike me, who would've chosen…" She paused and thought for a moment, waiting for the right moment. "Neptune."

Instantly, Sakura broke into laughter. She snorted and continued to laugh in a un-lady-like manner as Tenten glared at her confusingly.

"Why?" Tenten pouted as her friend continued to chuckle. "English names are beautiful, excluding the common names: Sarah, Jessica, Dillon and Brian. I want something like," Her eyes lightened up brightly as she clasped her hands under her chin and swayed about. "Sonny, Storm, Rain, Gwendolyn, Callisto, Renald, Zidane, Sirius, Garnet, Avion…" Tenten went on and on with her lengthy list of magnificent and peculiar names.

Something struck Sakura.

G

"Hold this," She handed the baby to Tenten and began to rummage through her bag, desperately looking for a piece of paper. Sakura opened her school folder to reveal a paper with a hole in it; a letter missing.

The one Sasuke poked.

Sakura turned towards Tenten with excitement in her eyes. "What was that name you just said? The name which starts with a 'G' from the English American alphabet. The one you just had mentioned." Sakura looked at Tenten who put a finger to her lip and stared at the sky. It was her thinking pose.

"There's: Grete, Guy, Golden, Ghandi, Gregon, Garnet, George, Gra-"

"No, no! There was a really pretty name you said!" Sakura tried to think back but her lack in English made her forget.

"Oh, was it Gwendolyn?"

Sakura smiled wide. "Gwendolyn." The name lolled out of her mouth as she reached for the mechanical baby, trying to imagine calling the baby by the name. She had to say that it had a nice ring to it.

_Gwendolyn_

She cradled her against her body and began to talk nonsense. "Gwendolyn." She murmured softly.

"Woah, you have some maternal instincts in you." Tenten scrutinize Sakura as she continued cooed at the "mechanical" baby. She watched her best friend for a while and then huffed. She grabbed her friend by the arm and dragged her to the dumplings shop to their right. "Come on, new mom. Let's go get something to eat."

As soon as they entered the restaurant Tenten roared at the top of her lungs. "Six large beef dumplings and six small bean paste dumplings!" At Sakura's shove against her ribs, Tenten finished her sentence. "Please!" The old man nodded in weary and pointed to a table near a fish tank.

"Man, this place is so good." Tenten smacked her lips deliciously as her mouth began to water at the smell of dumplings. She over looked at Sakura excitingly but her enthusiastic expression soon dropped rock bottom. She was still cradling that damn baby

"If you want a baby that bad why don't you go and have sex with Idate." Tenten sneered playfully, forgetting about the incidents from yesterday. At realization, her eyes widened and she put her hand to her mouth in horror. "Oh, no, Sakura, I-I didn't mean it…like that." Tenten tentatively placed her hand on Sakura's arm.

"It's fine." She smiled softly at Tenten, understanding her friend's mistake. "I'm over Idate. I won't cry and mourn over that…incompetent fool anymore." Carefully, she placed the baby in the chair next to hers and covered her with her school uniform's coat. It would make a comfortable bed for the babe.

"Good," Tenten nodded in satisfaction. "That "boy" isn't worth one molecule of yours." She immediately stopped talking as a waiter came to their table to serve the drinks. "Clean your mouth with salt and water to remove the memories of his lips." She brought the cup to her mouth as she drank.

Sakura blushed fiercely.

Tenten, who was sipping her water, witnessed the blush on her friend's face. It suddenly registered into her head why she blushed so severely. Water sprayed out of her mouth, so that a heavy mist hit Sakura right in the face.

"Ew!" Sakura's hand whipped up to her face to wipe off the liquid. "You're so disgusting!" Desperately seizing a tissue from the edge of the counter, Sakura began to clean off her drenched face. "You could've given me a warning-"

"You and Idate haven't kissed?" She whispered loudly. The astonishment in her eyes was clear. Idate was known to carry out his "accomplishments" when dating a girl. Sakura was foolish to think that she could be the one to change him from his eagerness.

"He only kissed me on the cheek." Sakura confessed guiltily.

Tenten gaped at her and soon rolled her eyes afterwards. "Honey, your lips are virgins." She paused for a moment and said in a louder voice. "You need to get active."

Sakura flinched at Tenten's overly loud voice in the small restaurant they were in. Unfortunately for her, Tenten's voice possessed a lovely octave that could carry plainly through a hurricane. It was followed by a sudden hush in the crowded room.

Glancing at nearby tables, Sakura noticed that the men had stopped talking, and turned to stare at them with a lot more interest.

A LOT OF MORE INTEREST

"Do you need a microphone to tell the whole world?" Sakura covered her red face with her hands and did her best to ignore the curious onlookers. An urge to disappear immediately consumed her thoughts.

"Luckily, I heard your call and will keep away those who want you." The handsome brown-haired waiter said as he stopped by their table to drop off their order.

Her cheeks flared with embarrassment as the OBVIOUS over-aged man gave her a devilish grin. "Is there anything I can do for you?" He purred.

"No." Sakura said quickly with a fake smile. "We're good."

"Call me over if you need anything." His eyes stared at her lips and at her body. "_Anything_," He licked his lips before he left.

Once he was gone, Tenten cackled in laughter. "Ewwwwwwww."

Sakura gave Tenten a nasty glance before eating her bean paste dumplings. "I can't believe you said it loud!" She shrugged nonchantingly. "So, what if we didn't do a lip-lock yet? It's not going to kill me."

"Why don't you kiss Sasuke then?"

Choking on a piece of bread, Sakura's face turned red and her hands started groping for her glass of water. Finally, when the near-death experience was over, Sakura gave her best friend a look of terror. "Do you want me to get killed?" Just hearing his name made her feel exposed, somehow defenseless.

"Why not? He's hot." Tenten sighed at her own fantasy and snickered. "I can see the two of you already."

Sakura shook her head, her eyes wide with horror. "Take your mind out of the gutter." She relaxed and drank more water to clear her throat. As she did, she coincidently looked at the watch on her wrist and her eyes bulged out of her sockets. "Oh my god, my moms gonna kill me!" In a hurry, she quickly gathered her belongings and the mechanical baby; she also managed to grab two dumplingss from the plate.

"Wait, where you going?" Tenten asked.

Sakura turned around and started walking backwards as she answered her friend. "I gotta go home! Today is some family portrait my mom has been wanting to do for decades. Ugh!" She winced when she bumped her leg on the table. "I'll see you later."

"Hey! You still have to tell me what happened yesterday!"

Sakura left without answering.

"_**Where there is love, there is pain"**_

Hoping that she wasn't late, Sakura opened the door to her dysfunctional house and rushed inside her room before anybody saw her. Unfortunately, someone heard her slamming her room door shut. She could hear her mom's voice calling out her name. There was a hint of fear in her voice; as if it as not Sakura that came through the door.

"Hold on, Okaasan!" Sakura yelled out, trying to reassure her mother that it had been her who had walked in. Sakura rushed to her closet and took out the formal dress which was hanged at the far end of the closet. Before she even had it in her hands, her mouth dropped open in horror. The black expensive dress was shredded in random places, torn fabrics hanging for their life on the now demolished dress. There were holes in it as if someone had grabbed scissors and viciously sheared it with the blades. It was impossible to wear.

Her heart broke into two as she looked at the dress her mother had gotten for her last Christmas.

"Ami…" Her hand tightened on the dress with hatred and anger. The animosity was tangible. Her step-sister has gone too far this time. Idate was something precious to her but her gift from her mother was a whole different subject. It was as if Ami was killing Sakura's mom.

Her silent maniacal wail echoed through the house like vicious thunder.

Before Sakura could hide the dress, she heard footsteps quickly walking down the hallway. "Sakura!" Her mother rushed into the room, with a concerned look upon her face. "Why aren't you dressed yet? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, Okaasan." Sakura quickly whipped the dress behind her back. If her mom sees it, then she would feel even worse than what Sakura was feeling at the moment.

Her mother sighed and shook her head sadly. "Sakura-ah, I don't know what to do with you." She sighed once more and then pointed to the restroom inside of Sakura's room. "I brought you a dress yesterday for today and wanted you to try it on, but you were sleeping over Tenten's house. It's behind your bathroom door. Hurry up and change." Her mother exited the room, leaving Sakura in relief.

She was saved-

For the day

After taking a shower, Sakura stood before the mirror and looked at her pink hair. It was messy and tangled; the conditioner didn't even help make it look luscious and full of life. It was as if birds had made a nest there and it drowned in water. She sighed and let the blow dryer muse her hair around. She then fixed her hair so that her pink hair was piled into a bun, with two long tendrils spilling down each side of her face. Her bangs fell to the left side, obscuring her forehead along with one mischievous eye.

Makeup

Sakura grimaced as she looked at her plain placid face. She didn't even know how to put that wretched stuff on properly. She sighed and shrugged as she finished styling her hair.

No makeup.

Finishing up with her hair she immediately and carefully put on the dress quickly, not waiting to waste more time yet not wanting to ruin it.

Finally looking at herself in the mirror, she saw a beautiful maiden. Curly tendrils of her hair fell at the sides of her face and the gentle deep waves flowed back into a was breathtakingly beautiful. She wasn't conceited, but the dress fit nicely and snuggled against her body. The dress reached two inches below her knees, leaving her milky white legs viewable. The front part of her dress gently sloped downwards towards her chest, but it didn't show her cleavage. She smiled tentatively at her image in the mirror.

It was perfect.

As she made her way down the stairs she opened her mouth to call for her mother and show gratitude for the dress. Hushed whispers and angry noises caused her to stop at the bottom of the stairs. Sakura crept near the kitchen to hear her mother and step-father arguing.

"Why is she here? I thought we were doing a family portrait." Her step-father whispered fiercely. He thought of Sakura as a vermin, a disease to be wiped out immediately.

"Yes, it's a family portrait, and _she_ has a name. It's Sakura and _she's_ family." Her mother's insisting voice was firm yet weak.

"That weed is interfering with my family-"

"That weed is my daughter!"

Sakura jumped at the tone and power of her mother's voice. She has never heard her raise her voice against her step–father. It was amazing and shocking that for once her mother was defending her daughter in front of her step-father's face.

"Well, that damned ugly weed is going to be clinging around my neck until the day I die. Ayaka, choose right now and I'll be able to get rid of her like that," He snapped his fingers to make the emphasis. "Choose me, your beloved husband, or that abomination you gave birth to."

Sakura was stunned, she wasn't surprised that he despised her, but she was astonished with such great resentment. How dare he ask her mother of his idiotic question? Sakura stood erected, ready to go down stairs before anything could even get uglier.

All of a sudden, a loud noise reverberated throughout the house, which made Sakura stop dead. Full of terror, she quickly ran into the living room, preparing herself for the worst.

The sight of her step-father holding his reddened check with his hand and looking at her mother with shock, made her stop at the door. She turned her head to see her mother with a furious face. Sakura held her breath as she watched her mother slowly walking towards her step-father with a lethal deadly gait. She stabbed her finger at his chest repeatingly, making him take a step back with each and every poke.

"If you ever do that, ask me that unintelligent question, one more time," Ayaka paused and clenched her teeth so that the air rushed through her teeth with animosity. "God so help me, I will rip out your guts and feed every little piece of you to Aristotle." With one last solid poke, her mother turned around, flipped her hair over her shoulder with attitude as she prepared to leave the room. She immediately froze up when she saw her daughter over by the couch. "Sakura," She said in a weak whisper.

Her mother looked at her husband with heated eyes as she started for her daughter. "Are you ready for the picture, Sakura?" Ayaka's maternal instincts kicked in as she smoothed the dress one Sakura's sides. "You look beautiful darling." She gazed at Sakura's eyes and smiled. "You have your father's eyes." She said softly.

"Thank you, Okaasan," Sakura smiled softly and looked over her mother's shoulder to look straight into her stepfather's eyes. Immediately her eyes hardened. "I'm ready for the photo shoot," She paused for a moment. "The _family_ portrait."

Her step-father straightened his suit uncomfortably and nodded sharply at her. "Finally she's able to do something quick." He grumbled to himself.

Wisely ignoring her husband, Sakura's mom caressed her face and sighed. "I'll go get my shoes and we'll be ready to go." Sakura's mother exited the room, giving her husband, Murata, a warning glance before she left.

When the two of them were alone, Murata turned to Sakura with those ugly sinful eyes. "Listen to me you-"

"Weed?" Sakura intercepted.

His face flushed with anger and fury as his incompetent step-daughter spoke back at him. Sakura could practically see the pulse on his neck beating heavily against his skin. The veins on his forehead jutted out, making his face look like it was going to explode any minute now; along with his head. He was glaring at her as if she were something sinister.

Something to be eliminated quickly.

"You will be gone one of these days." He jabbed his finger in Sakura's direction with such detest. "And once you're gone, I'll be able to have the _perfect_ family, excluding you." Giving her a nasty look, he exited the room, leaving Sakura with a blank expression.

"Stupid old man," She whispered.

Turning around, Haunel sighed as she was ready to exit the room. She stiffened when she heard the most dreadful voice she could ever imagine.

"Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in." Ami crossed her delicate arms as her perfect glossy lips lifted in a cruel smirk. "Were you too hurt to come home last night? " She laughed as she made her way through the living room. "You should've seen the glee on Idate's face when I accepted to be his girlfriend after our lovemaking."

That was a blow that hit Sakura hard in the chest, in the heart.

"Aw, what's with the face?" Ami chuckled and approached Sakura with a mocking gait. She chucked Sakura's chin with her index finger so that she was forced to look at Ami. "Amazing how after two years, you haven't even let him kiss you. And we haven't even started dating and I ran all the way to homerun." She smirked evilly.

"Leave me alone," Sakura admonished quietly; but she knew that she wasn't strong enough to do anything to Ami: in power and in strength.

"Pitiful," Ami swished her hair over her shoulder. She then grabbed one of Sakura's tendrils between her fingers and tugged lightly. "Stay out of my way, yeah. More enough, you should just leave," With those words, which slapped Sakura in the face, her step sister left, carrying all the authority and might with her.

As lonely as ever, Sakura stood there, hurting more than she can imagine. The animosity in her for Ami was gradually growing uglier and even more sinful. How long can she go on with kind of life? How long will she suffer in this household?

She already knew the answer long ago.

"Sakura, let's go." Her mom's cheery voice echoed through the house with vitality and health.

She walked towards the door full of sorrow.

As long as her mom was alive, she would allow herself to be beaten down.

With a salvation that didn't even exist.

_**Where's my salvation? **_

"_**Work out your own salvation. Do not depend on others"**_


	6. The Fragility of Life

_**Chapter 6: The Fragility of a Life**_

"_**To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else"**_

"I can't believe you did that!" Tenten held up her hand in the air to congratulate on her friend's courage and decision. "High five, girl. You earned it."

Sakura gave her a weak high five and laughed with her nervously. She scratched the back of her head and giggled as Tenten walked along side of her towards their class. She wasn't even sure IF she should be congratulated of what she did.

After her first two disastrous days of keeping Gwendolyn in her room, Sakura knew that she could not continue this one parent care. The cries coming from the mechanical baby was still reverberating in her head. The innumerous times she had to get up and comfort, clean and sing Gwendolyn was torturous and painful.

She knew she couldn't do this alone.

Sakura went to Sasuke the day before yesterday, handed him Gwendolyn and walked away before he could even protest. Now it was his turn to do the "Daddy" job, and let "mommy" have a nice summer break.

Tenten and Sakura laughed and giggled as they went to class, returning from the magnificent lunch period.

Right when Sakura entered the room, her teacher called her to his desk.

"Sakura, come over here." Kakashi-sensei waved her over. Sasuke stood in front of him with Hideki at his side; his face was blank and bored.

As soon as she stood before him, Kakashi-sensei looked at her with sharp angry eyes. "Ms. Haruno, Mr. Uchiha, do you really want to fail this project?" His face was as stern as his face.

Her eyes widened with astonishment. "Fail? But we take turns taking care of Gwendolyn. What do you mean fail?"

"According to my computer, for the lat two days, while the baby was crying, nobody tended, fed, cleaned or played with her. It was as if one of you two put her at the corner of the room and left her all alone to fend for herself." Kakashi-sensei clicked some buttons on his computer and typed on the keyboard for a while. "The first two days was fine, in fact incredible and splendid. Now you grade is down to a C-"

Sakura gasped in terror. "To a C? But, but-" She balked for a moment, and then whipped her head to look at Sasuke. He looked like he didn't have a care in the world for what Kakashi-sensei was telling them. As if failing didn't bother him.

"Today is the last day to take care of 'your child', Gwendolyn." Kakashi-sensei looked down at his watch and sighed. "I'm letting the class go home in about 10 minutes today, so they will have time to be with their fake babies and earn as much points as possible. " He gave them both a warning glare. "Don't mess up this chance. Go and get some points." He then whipped out his perverted book and started to read.

Sasuke sat down at his desk and stared outside of the window; the wind was crisp and invigorating as the birds twirled and flew in the air with their weak, fragile wings. He didn't understand anything the idiotic teacher was talking about. With his feeble translation dictionary, scared to death about him, he was lost in the Japanese language. When he took a small glance at Sakura, he was taken back. There was such fury and irritation radiating from her; she was seriously boiling in rage.

She wanted to kill him, slaughter him, roast him, _**execute **_him. Her hands were aching to wring his neck like a chicken on death row, and batter his body with the desk she was sitting in. She could imagine her eyelid twitching involuntarily as the vein on her head begins to pulse madly with hatred.

"H-Sakura, a-are you…okay?" Hideki stuttered cautiously. "D-do you…do you w-want me t-t-to translate s-something?" His voice was pathetic and quiet.

"Hideki," She growled and didn't even notice him flinch at the tone of her voice. "I think it's time to tell you that I will no longer need your assistance for any translation. From now on I will talk to Sasuke in Japanese and manage on my own." Sakura didn't even look away from Sasuke as she talked to Hideki.

She was going to deal with him herself; whether he liked it or not.

"Um, o-okay…." Hideki hesitated as he looked from Sasuke to Sakura. Inside, he was silently glad that she had said that. Now he doesn't have to be worried or scared at the fact of dying when he has his back turned towards Sasuke. He slowly left the two alone; ready to jump in glee once he was outside.

"Okay, class is dismissed. Get those points before tomorrow." Kakashi-sensei let the class go.

"Let's go." Sakura said in a hard voice as she grabbed her bag and started for the door. She turned around to see Sasuke still sitting down on his desk with his arms crossed over his chest. An expression of silent admonishment was on his face.

Sasuke stared at her. He was getting angrier and even more furious as she kept on pestering at him like an old hag. What was she bugging about? What does she want?

"Let's go." Sakura said slowly as if she was speaking to a person with very slow capabilities.

He remained wordless, staring at her with eyes that were eerily calm and full of intensity. The vividness of her story green flashed a darker color, then suddenly brighter. He didn't respond.

Her face was steaming with anger at each passing second. Frustrated, Sakura made a grab at his hand, determined to drag him out of the classroom for the sake of her grade. As her hand reach for his arm, Sasuke's hand swiftly struck out and smacked her hand away.

Hard.

The sound echoed throughout the classroom, causing the students' head to turn towards them.

It was out of reflex. Sasuke glowered at Sakura who looked at the hand, which was reddening by the second. She had no reason to touch him. No one had any reason to touch him. And nobody orders him around.

Nobody.

Her hand was throbbing as the color began to spread across the back of her delicate hand. Sakura looked at the hand for a while and then at Sasuke with uprising anger. She never wanted to kill someone, besides Idate. Her lips tightened to a straight line as her shoulders were pulled back. Sakura splayed her milky white hands on his table and leaned towards him so that her nose was one inch away from his. She looked at him with solid eyes, like a sheep bravely standing in front of a butcher with a bloody knife. Her eyes narrowed, and Sakura pinned him with anger. "Let's go."

Sasuke glared at her with steel eyes and slowly stood up, his eyes never leaving hers. He held an aura that was dangerous and wild. Shrugging his hands into his pants pockets, he walked towards the door leaving Sakura behind. By his slow languorous moves, she was ready to jump back if he dares to attack her in the school. Stopping at the door, Sasuke turned around and stared crossly at her.

"Let's go." He snapped: his tone full with authority and power.

Sakura started walking towards him, her guard instantly coming back up. She rubbed her head to help alleviate some of the bitter ache that was starting right between her eyes. As she walked out of the classroom, she heard whispers from behind.

"Oh my goodness, I thought she was going to get her head chopped off!"

"I thought she was gonna chop his head!"

"The two of them are crazy!"

Sakura shook her head and started to pace after Sasuke, who was about 10 feet in front of her. She didn't blame him. Who wouldn't get angry after being embarrassed in front of the class? _If_ he was able to get embarrassed.

They walked a good three miles, around the streets and alleys until they ended up at a friendly park. His long sensuous gait was impossible to ignore and every female in the area, except for Sakura, was held transfixed by his presence. They all paused to watch him walk by as if compelled by some unseen force as he walked past them.

The leaves on the trees rustled as the screams of delight were heard from children nearby. Sasuke stopped at a bench under a tree and sat down. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked at the grassy plain. Sasuke sat back and folded his arms to look at the scenery. It was beautiful and cheery, which meant that it will be soon destroyed.

Slowly, Sakura sat next to him. About a good five feet was between them. She stretched her sore muscles, for the fact that she was wiped out and tired. She placed her bag next to her feet and sat with her hands in her lap: a lady-like position. They didn't talk. All she could hear was the wind blowing and the laughter from others in the park.

Sakura took the chance, and gazed at Sasuke who had a brooding expression on his face. "Where's Gwendolyn?" She asked kindly.

He looked at her with those coal eyes.

"Baby," Sakura brought her hands to do a rocking motion against her chest to show that it meant child. "Baby, Gwendolyn. Where is she?" She questioned again.

Sasuke immediately know what she was talking about when she did some movement against her body. She wanted the damn mechanical baby that kept him up all night yesterday. It was the cause of his bad moods he had today.

He threw it in the closet yesterday.

The head disconnected from the neck.

And wires were poking out from the side.

Sakura stared at him, waiting for an answer, which she knew he would not say. It was torturous and childish.

"Sasuke, where's the baby?" Sakura sighed when he looked away from him to see a dog running in circles. Not knowing why, but before Sasuke turned his face away, Sakura thought she saw a flash of guilt in his eyes. As she waited for an answer, a breeze came causing the leaves and petals from peonies and cherry blossom trees that surround the field of pink and white flowers began to fall, dancing in the wind.

She silently shook her head from side to side: a definite sign of defeat. It was impossible.

"Uh, look, Sasuke-" She wanted to explain to him about how important her grades were, but before she could do it, someone interrupted her.

"Sakura-san!"

A middle aged woman with kind eyes approached Sasuke and Sakura. She had a yellow bundle in her arm as she walked towards them. Her white flowery skirt, which reached her mid-calves, fluttered around her as her pink shirt ruffled against the wind. Her forehead had beads of sweat as she neared them.

"Ohayo-gozaimasu, Katsumi-san"

"Ohayo-gozaimasu, Sakura-san," The Japanese woman's voice was soft and tiring. "How are you?" She asked. There were slight pants in between her words as she talked. There was a heavy bag of groceries in her other hand, while she cradled the baby with the other.

"I'm fine." Sakura smiled and stood from the bench to see the baby. "How's my little Fubuki?" She grabbed the baby's hand with her finger and bobbed it up and down. The baby gurgled as her bright eyes gazed at her usual caretaker. Sakura smiled. "How are you, Katsumi-san?"

"I'm great, but I have a huge favor to ask you." Katsumi smiled sheepishly. "Can you babysit Fubuki today? I planned a dinner party today and forgot to ask you last week. Are you free?" A hopeful smile was on her face.

"Um…" Sakura hesitated and stole a glance at Sasuke. He was politely looking away from Sakura and Katsumi.

Suddenly, and idea struck her.

She smiled brightly at Katsumi and nodded eagerly. "You got me at a perfect time."

"Thank you, Sakura-san. You have no idea what this means to me!" Katsumi smiled big as she handed Fubuki to Sakura. "Thank you so much." She passed Sakura a bag, which contained everything that was necessary for Fubuki's day. Katsumi kissed Fubuki's forehead, smiled once more and was gone.

Fubuki cooed and raised her arms up to Sakura's face, patting her white cheeks with her chubby hands. The teen laughed happily and turned towards Sasuke. She was determined to at least teach him how to take care for a baby.

Sasuke glanced at the side once they lady left. When he heard Sakura walking towards the bench, he immediately turned his eyes down at the alien-like bundle in her arms. He knew it was a baby but when he saw a suspicious glint in Sakura's eyes he suddenly felt uncomfortable.

For the first time in a very long time he felt like he wanted to get up and run.

Getting up swiftly, Sasuke started walking away in long strides, trying to avoid Sakura and whatever was up in her mind.

"Sasuke, hold on!" Sakura cradled Fubuki against her as she jogged towards him. "Sasuke!" She called out. Once she was standing in front of him, Sakura looked into his eyes and smiled warmly.

It made him feel even more uncomfortable.

"This is a baby. Her name is Fubuki. Why don't you-" Before she could even finish, Sasuke sidestepped and walked around her.

"Eh?" Sakura turned around and called out his name once more but he didn't respond.

She growled angrily and chased after Sasuke once more. "Hold the baby!" She demanded. Quickly yet gently, she managed to hand Fubuki to Sasuke.

Instinctively, Sasuke held the baby and regretted it. Sakura grinned from ear to ear as she finally managed to have Sasuke hold Fubuki.

It was a miracle!

Sasuke looked uncomfortable. He held the bundle awkwardly and stared at it as it waved its fingers at his face. He grimaced. Sasuke stepped forward and tried to give the baby back. Unfortunately, Sakura beamed and stepped back. She put her hands up and watched Sasuke hold Fubuki helplessly.

He cursed.

Sakura's impish smile dispersed and was replaced with a worried, concern look. Sasuke moved his arm, which was supposed to support the baby's neck. Now, Fubuki's head was literally hanging down from the side of his arm uncomfortably. She was starting to fuss and cry.

"Oh, no, here." Sakura went to Sasuke and slowly reached for his arm. She didn't want him to slap her hand away again. She arranged his arm so that Fubuki could feel comfortable once again.

Fubuki sighed in content.

He stared at this creature in his arms with no expression or emotion. It was merely an infant whose life will end if he dared to drop it. Its life was fragile and it was meaningless in this life. Its eyes stared owlishly at Sasuke with curiosity. Suddenly it raised its hand and-

Soft.

So soft, like butterfly wings.

Fubuki's soft hand gently touched and caressed Sasuke's face. Sasuke's stoic face changed right before Sakura's eyes.

Sasuke stared at her with wonder, studying her pure and clean face. Her cheeks were pink, filled with vitality and health. Her button nose gave off a noise, a sniffle. Her mouth resembled rose petals: soft and pure. Her eyes were light, friendly to everyone she sees; clear and innocent of sorrow. This baby held such loving eyes; like Sakura. It gave him enormous pleasure to watch the baby's cheeks turn pink and eyes looking everywhere, alert and interested.

Fubuki squealed in glee as she grabbed at his cheeks with both of her hands.

Sakura couldn't believe it. Sasuke's eyes stared into Fubuki's with care and gentleness. Gone was all of his toughness and in its place was the gentleness of a man who she never expected to see coming from him. Slowly his façade was peeling and-

"Gwendolyn…" He whispered.

Fubuki gurgled and laughed as spit dribbled down her chin. An attractive sight.

"Sasuke, her name is Fubuki, not Gwendolyn." Sakura informed. But he didn't listen; he couldn't hear her, for he was entranced by with Fubuki.

"Gwendolyn…" He repeated once more as he caressed her cheek with his finger.

Fubuki wrinkled up her face and her brows were scrunched up together. She closed her eyes and sneezed.

A smile tugged at the edges of his lips and, if she didn't miss her guess, his eyes softened ever so slightly. Her action brought a slight smile to his face.

"Gwendolyn." He whispered softly and continued to caress her face. Sakura noticed that he had beautiful hands. Long and tapered, they were strong and well shaped.

The human heart is such a mystery…

Shaking her head to get rid of the thought, Sakura instinctively looked at her cell phone and noticed that they only had three hours left to fix their horrid grade. "Okay, Sasuke, we need to go to your apartment and get that mechanical baby so that I can get our grade back up to an A." She explained.

"Mechanical baby…" Sasuke repeated slowly, trying to understand what she was saying.

"Yes! Your place, we need to go!" Sakura waved her hands in front of her franticly. "Our grade is in desperate need right now!"

Sasuke sighed, knowing what she was talking about. He looked down at the baby in his arms and sighed once again.

"Okay, let's go." Sasuke reluctantly gave Fubuki back to Sakura as he went to the bench to fetch his belongings. He rummaged through his bag, searching for his car keys and was successful in finding it. He began to walk towards a black, sleek car, which was parked behind the bench they previously sat on.

"I can't believe he parks this far from school!" Sakura grabbed her bag, balancing her stuff and the baby in her arms. "This is one crazy guy." She scoffed.

Sasuke opened the passenger door for Sakura, waiting for her to enter his car. Sakura stood there, staring inside of the car like an idiot as she thought out the situation. She turned to Sasuke, who had an impatient look on his face.

"I'll sit in the back. You can get arrested for holding a baby on your lap in the passenger seat." Sakura explained.

Sasuke stared from her to the car and then nodded as if he understood what she said. He, surprisingly, gently grabbed her school bag from her hand and placed it on the passenger seat, along with his stuff. Once he finished, Sasuke turned towards Sakura with his arms outstretched so that he could grab the baby as she sat inside of the car.

Once they were seated inside of the car, Sasuke turned from the driver's seat and stared anxiously at the baby and at Sakura.

"Is this better for the baby's safety?" He asked smoothly, as if he had known Japanese for so long.

Sakura gaped at him and nodded slowly. She was surprised at the fact that he was caring for the baby's safety and that he was speaking in Japanese so easy and effortlessly. He has improved so much for about a week now.

Sasuke nodded in satisfaction and started the car. He started driving to his place.

Sakura played with Fubuki as time passed by. She cooed at her and blew her kisses, never ending the fun she was having. Suddenly, Fubuki stopped laughing and her lips started quivering. A little whimper here and there, it was the start of a huge cry.

"Oh, no," Sakura eyes widened in horror and she started to bounced the baby to keep her from crying. But no avail.

Fubuki opened her mouth and screamed as if she never had screamed before.

Sasuke immediately whipped his head around and stared at the baby in Sakura's arms. "What's wrong?" His face was anxious and full of concern as he searched for the problem with his skillful eyes.

Sakura looked up to see Sasuke, turned around trying to find out what the problem was. She looked beyond his face and saw how they streaked across the street on a red light.

"Keep your eyes on the road!" She shrieked as he barely missed an old couple walking down the street. Sasuke whipped back in his seat and tried to manage the uncontrollable beast. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut as they careened through an alley way and was headed straight for a crowd of people.

A sudden hit to the brakes, Sasuke managed to dodge the throng of people by twisting the steering wheel quickly to the left and put it to drive once they were in the open road. He sped down the empty street and put the car to "park" once he reached his parking lot. He sighed heavily and looked in his review mirror to see Sakura clutching Fubuki in a tight grasp with the baby's head tucked beneath her chin to protect her fragile head.

"Hey," Sasuke called out.

Sakura hesitated to lift her head from Fubuki's soft hair; she was still imagining herself being thrown against the sides of the car as it rampaged through the streets like a wild animal. As she slowly lifted her head, her hand clenched even tighter onto the car door's handle.

Sasuke's eyebrow arched up in question. "Are you okay?"

Sakura glared weakly at him. "I'm not driving with you, ever again."

He merely shrugged and got out of the car.

"Oh, jeez," Sakura got out of the car, her muscles and bones shaking with intensity. She couldn't' believe that she was still able to hold Fubuki with a good hold as she was out of the car in an instant. She grabbed her stuff from Sasuke and followed after him.

Once they were inside the small apartment, she turned to Sasuke.

"Where's the mechanical baby?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes in exasperation and nodded sharply as he walked to his room. The aura of regret surrounded him heavily. As soon as he got the damned baby Sakura's been whining about, he sauntered back to the living room and threw it next to Sakura, who was sitting on the couch.

Sakura innocently looked at the doll only to gasp in horror as she saw Gwendolyn, or rather what was left of her.

Her head was literally hanging on to its life by the wire connected to the neck. Sakura wiped her finger across Gwendolyn's face to see that there was dust collecting on her and in her hair. There was food smothered on her face, a sign of Sasuke trying to feed her. Sakura looked at her bottom and jerked her head back in revulsion. There was still waste there, clinging to her bottom.

Gwendolyn, somehow activated, moved her arms stiffly and said in a very low and disoriented voice. "Ma…ma….." She turned her head, in a jerky motion, and giggled in a monotone voice. Suddenly she turned off and the wires crackled and fizzled. A popping noise made Sakura squeak and jump in shock. The air filled with an awful odor as smoke arose from her body.

Sasuke scratched his head uncomfortably as he stared at Sakura gaze down at the broken down toy.

Fubuki, who was cradled in between his pillows and the couch, giggled and waved her hands up at him.

Sakura looked up at Sasuke. Her face looked sad and the novelty of that stunned him most of all. Sasuke glanced down at the mechanical baby and then back at her. He thought to himself for a while. Why in the world would she cry over something that doesn't even exist? He was disgusted by the mere thought of it.

She sniffed as she stared down at the devastating doll. Sakura pouted as she wiped off some of the dust from Gwendolyn's tangled hair. Getting a hold of herself, she sighed and turned her head up to Sasuke. "Take care of Fubuki while I try and get our grade back up." She took a step back away from him, clutching the doll tightly to her chest, her face sadder than before. With those words, Sakura went into the restroom and stayed in there for a long time.

A long time.

Sasuke stared at the door and shrugged, trying to get rid of the guilt hanging on his shoulders. He sat down on the couch and stared at Fubuki who was playing with her feet and blowing bubbles with her spit. When she fixed her eyes upon Sasuke, she laughed in glee and began to pump her legs, slightly kicking Sasuke's thigh with the little strength she had.

Smirking at the baby, Sasuke began to play little games with her.

"_**Life is like an onion: You peel it off one layer at a time, and sometimes you weep"**_

After treacherous hours of fixing Gwendolyn back up and getting as much points as Sakura can, she collapsed against the door of the restroom and stared at the baby. She had to agree with Tenten, that baby is a demon baby.

Sighing from her tremendous work, Sakura grabbed the babe and exited the restroom. As soon as she entered the living room, she stopped dead in her tracks.

It was quiet; too quiet.

She heard a light snore coming from the couch and craned her head just a bit to take a peek.

Sasuke and Fubuki were sleeping.

Quietly she set down Gwendolyn on the counter of the kitchen and crossed the floor towards them. She looked at the couch to find them together, Sasuke sprawled on the couch, with Fubuki snuggled in the curve of his arm. He was sound asleep. Fubuki had Sasuke's hair twisted within her fist; she was fiddling and chewing on his hair.

Sakura's eyes switched from Fubuki's face to Sasuke. She wanted to brush at the dark hair on his forehead, to trace the lines on his face, but was afraid of disturbing his private space. She couldn't hold herself back any longer. Slowly and softly, she touched the strands tickling his forehead and from that she worked her wait to his head. She was so surprised at the softness and silkiness of his hair, it was a gentle caress. It had slid sensuously through her fingers.

How ironic for such a strong person.

Sasuke opened his eyes, drowsy from the sleep. He felt someone patting and mussing with his hair. He focused his eyes to see that it was Sakura who was petting around with his hair, not Fubuki as he had thought.

An unexpected happiness consumed him, but he refused to even smile.

He stared at her, entranced by her. She was beauty incarnate. Soft and kind, things that had never existed in his world before. He wondered if someone so beautiful could ever love something as vile as him. He mentally shook his head. How could he think of such things? He merely continued stared up at her with those curious black eyes of his.

Her tenderness amazed him as she carefully touched his hair, and then combed it with her fingers.

When Fubuki began to fret, Sakura murmured and leaned over him, trying to pick him up without waking Sasuke.

"Here," Sasuke sat up and passed Fubuki to Sakura. As soon as she had the baby, he got up and went into the kitchen for water. He needed to get rid of the thoughts he had buried so long ago. The past he had worked so hard to cover. Sasuke looked out of the window to see that it was getting dark fast.

The dark was a dangerous place for everyone.

"I'll drop you off at home," Sasuke said as he grabbed his coat.

"Okay," Sakura wrapped Fubuki in a tight bundle with her pink blanket. She grabbed her little beanie and placed it around her head for security from the cold. Collecting all of her stuff, Sakura exited the apartment with Sasuke walking behind her.

When they ended up in the street, Sakura waited for Sasuke to open the car.

He didn't.

As the air slightly stirred behind her, Sakura turned to see Sasuke staring at her. His eyes were back to their deep onyx hues but seemed to be darker, much more intense. He raised his hand to her face, his thumb gently rubbed traced the arch of her cheekbone. She bit her lip and gathered all the control she had in her to not pressed her cheek against his palm.

Above her, sparkling like diamonds were the stars, blinking down at her.

There was something about him that was compelling and irresistible. He continued to watch her with an intensity that spoke out to her.

Immediately, Sasuke lowered his hand and opened the door for Sakura. As soon as she was inside, he expelled an aggravated breath and swiped his hand through his hair.

Such thoughts needed to be annihilated.

As they drove away in the far distance, the both of them didn't notice a pair of eyes narrowing with malice and hatred. A dark shadowy figure from the side of the building walked out from the dark and into the light.

"I've got you now, Uchiha Sasuke."

"_**The heart has its reasons which reason knows not of"**_


	7. A Love to Kill

**Chapter 7: A Love to Kill**

"_**You call it madness, but I call it love"**_

_Drip Drop_

_Drip Drop_

_Pit Pat_

_Pit Pat_

Two moonstones stared out of the misty window covered with droplets of water. They didn't blink, they didn't move, they didn't acknowledge and they didn't see. As if in a trance, a forever sleep, they continued to gaze out of the window, looking out of the nothingness.

"Hello?" Hinata passed her hand in front of Sakura's blank face. "Is anyone in there?"

A sudden expression of surprise replaced the trance look on Sakura's face. "Huh?" She blinked a couple of times to pull herself away from the depth of her daydreams. "Did you say something?"

Sakura and her friends were inside of the school's gym. Because it was raining, the teachers decided to have a PE session inside of the gym, a game of basketball, at least to keep them active. As soon as the teacher had them finish their daily recommendations of exercises, they let the students have the time and let them do whatever they want to do. So Sakura and her friends were sitting around and talking.

Hinata giggled. Her voice was thick because of the fact that she was sick. "Yeah, silly. I'm going to the side of the building for some soda pops. Want any?"

"Oh-"

Cutting Sakura off, Ino spoke out. "I want water." Ino stated solemnly as she flipped through some girly magazine for health and beauty. She tossed a bill to Hinata. It fluttered on the ground, so that Hinata was forced to pick it up as if she were a beggar.

Tenten swept her eyes up and down at Ino. She narrowed her eyes at her and scoffed. "Yeah, like your friends are your servants to order around, _Princess Bitch_."

Ino lifted her eyes from her magazine and glared at Tenten maliciously. They exchanged venomous sneers. "Only you are the lesser one I see." She said, tone full of venom.

"You bitch!" Tenten shot up from the floor, ready to grab Ino's fake perm hair and smash her face on the gym floor. "I will take you down!" She was seething with anger. Her eyes smoldered with barely leashed fury.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Sakura forcibly pulled away from her trance and grabbed Tenten's wrist. "Calm down, the both of you!" Tenten yanked her wrist away from Sakura's grasp, and tried to go at Ino. Sakura managed to get her wrist again.

"Calm down," Sakura whispered fiercely. Reluctantly, Tenten quieted down.

Sakura sighed and looked down at the Princess brat, who was smirking at Tenten with an expression Sakura wanted to slap from her face. "You have no right to say that. Tenten is practically the one who gives you money for lunch when you "forget" your wallet almost every single day." Sakura glared down at Ino, who gave her a nasty look until she went back to her magazine.

After a moment or two, when Sakura was convinced that the two wouldn't attack each other, she turned towards Hinata with her hand held out. "I'll go buy the drinks. It's raining and you'll get even sicker."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive." Sakura took the money from her hand before she could protest. "Just do me a favor and make sure that they don't attack each other."

As Sakura exited the gym she felt the cold gust of wind hit her. She, like the rest of the students, was in her PE uniform: a white baggy shirt, with the school's logo on the front and black shorts that went to her knees. Instead of shivering and cursing from the cold rain, she embraced it. Sakura took in a deep breath and smelled the sweet atmosphere of the rain. She nodded in satisfaction as she began her journey.

She walked along the building to avoid the pouring rain. If she got wet, surely the teacher would punish her sadistically for being childish and idiotic. She looked at the rain longingly and sighed as she approached the vending machine.

"Well, if it isn't Little Miss Pristine?"

"Ever so pure and untainted."

"I don't believe so."

"I agree."

Slowly, Sakura turned around to find Ami and her three other friends: Tora, Yumi, Shiori, and Chiharu. In the school the four of them were known as invincible for all the horrible deeds they have done. Sakura clenched the money in her hand to hold herself from showing her unraveling emotions. Giving them a blank look, Sakura turned back to the vending machine and progressed to buy the drinks for her friends.

"So, you're going to ignore us, I see." Suddenly Yumi, the short-tempered one out of the four, yanked on Sakura's hair, twisting and tangling her finger in it. Yumi jerked Sakura's head back and whispered in her ear. "You have no idea how much that pisses me off." Yumi then slung Sakura on the floor mercilessly.

Sakura cried out as she landed on her hand, the money flew out from it. She held her numbed hand to her chest, cradling it as it began to throb painfully. Soon her hair plastered against her skull as the rain poured down upon her. The cold water pelted upon her cruelly, causing her clothes to cling to her skin as the water seeped through.

"Be careful! You might dirty her clean clothes!" Tora sarcastically exclaimed as she covered her lip glossed lips with her manicured hand. "Oops, I'm sure that Idate did his job and managed to pluck at her virginity." She tossed her head back and laughed cruelly.

"What a whore. The minute she started dating Idate, she probably has been getting it on."

Shiori curled her lip. "Tramp,"

"Bitch," Yumi kicked mud at Sakura so that specks of dirt were shown on her t-shirt.

"Now, now girls, we have to be nice, yes?" Ami crossed her arms and grinned down at Sakura. "After all, this **is** my sister."

Quietly, Sakura stood with her head bowed down. She turned to walk back to the gym. As she walked down along the building, where water wasn't able to hit her, Yumi grabbed her arm and threw her back into the puddles.

"Back where you belong!" Yumi sneered.

"Come on, we don't have time to play with animals," Ami chuckled darkly and left with her pack.

Sakura sat there in the rain, silently boiling in anger as hot tears cascaded down her cheeks. She clenched her jaw as she willed herself not to cry, not to scream and most importantly, not to break down. A sob racked her body, but was not heard for the rain drowned her emotions.

_Swans can fly while all I can do is dance and flap my broken wings_

Sasuke sighed in aggravation as he walked down the corridor, his hands in his pockets. He is badly craving for a cigarette on a perfect day, such as this. Leaving his previous class, he was wandering up and down the hallways, looking for a chance to escape to the haven they call hell.

When Sasuke turned the corner, he stopped dead in his tracks to see someone sitting on the ground, in the heavy rain. He stared at the figure strangely and was going to walk past until he noticed something familiar about the peculiar figure. The hair was strangely familiar.

_Sakura_

Immediately Sasuke stalked towards Sakura, whose body seems to be shivering in the rain. Mumbling a fetid curse that would have made a sailor cringe, he went to her side. Despite the annoying cold rain hammering upon him, Sasuke crossed the empty space between them. Once he reached her, he stood there awkwardly not knowing what to do. He cursed silently.

He was torn between wanting to comfort her and wanting to leave her in the rain.

What is he going to do? Comfort her? That is the last thing he knows how to do. He barely knows how the human heart operates. What about his past life? Does he really want to do this and ruin the image he carefully built for so long?

All his thoughts vanished when she looked up at him.

She was beautiful.

Stunning.

Such sad, sad eyes.

Sakura stared up at Sasuke who gazed down at her with an expressionless face. Because of her, he was getting wet; the rain gave him an angrier and depressing demeanor. Sakura lowered her head into her hands and began to cry, knowing that Sasuke was still standing in front of her.

The barrier she built for so long has finally broken.

Without saying anything, Sasuke bent down and carried Sakura to a safe shelter, next to the vending machine. He stiffened when she wrapped her arms towards his neck and cried against it as she held on for life.

Gentleness was something he had not experienced with and yet he held her carefully as he walked towards the building.

He reached the building and was about to put her down. But he couldn't. Her arms were wrapped around his neck tightly. "Can you let go of me?" He asked as politely as he can. He didn't even realize that he growled out the words.

She didn't listen to him.

He scoffed angrily and looked around; nobody was in sight. He was just going to have to sit down and have her sit down on his lap. As carefully as he can, Sasuke lowered himself on the floor and managed to have Sakura sitting on his lap. There was nothing wrong of this position; there was nothing sexual about it. It was as if a child was sitting on Santa's lap.

A very scary Santa that is.

Sakura cried and leaned against his chest, seeking for a comfort, any comfort that can be offered.

Sasuke didn't know what to do as her head was on his chest. His hands were on the sides of his legs, useless as ever. Slowly and awkwardly, not knowing what he was doing, Sasuke wrapped his arms around her shoulders. Trying to give a comfort he most likely didn't have.

When she noticed that he was actually trying to soothe her she looked up at him in shock.

As she looked up at him, lips red from being bitten upon, eyes swollen and red with tears, Sasuke couldn't remove the image of a beautiful maiden sitting in front of him. Cradling her head between his hands, Sasuke traced her eyebrows with the pad of his thumbs. He couldn't hold himself back anymore. Without even thinking, Sasuke brought his lips down upon hers. A husky raw sound sizzled through him.

The sweet taste from her was unbearable.

Sakura couldn't believe what was happening. She sat there not knowing what to do, whether or not to respond to his action. His lips were soft and gentle, the very opposite of his image, which was haunting and hard.

Suddenly, Sasuke pulled away from her fast. Sakura gasped as he leaned away from her. His eyes were clouded with guilt, sadness and a hint of pain. The pain in his eyes was raw and powerful. Something she never saw in him.

Never

Sasuke pulled away from her when he was finally able to control himself. He cursed himself for his stupidity and his rashness. He turned his face away from hers, knowing that if he looked at her once again, he would lose his control. Sasuke cursed at himself once more for being weak. He couldn't afford to be weak at a time like this.

He couldn't afford to be infatuated with someone he barely knows.

Infatuation…

Love…

He doesn't know why, but at the thought of keeping her with him at all times somehow gives him a reason to smile, to hope. He didn't want it as a thought. He wanted it as a fact.

The images of his past were still crystal clear and haunting. Yet he held her firmly tucked in beside him as if he were afraid of losing her. He should be pushing her away, like he has been doing to everybody else. The want and need to keep her was great.

All these feelings were opening ever since he met her.

His thoughts were disrupted when soft, tentative hands held his face. His dark intense eyes gazed at her green sad ones. The corner of her lip lifted up in a small smile. His hard gaze softened the instant she touched him.

Her lips moved and she said something, but Sasuke couldn't hear her for his eyes were concentrated on her lips.

Such pure untainted lips

Sakura tentatively leaned forward, her lips lightly skimming across his. She sighed in content when his arms came around her and cupped her face. She focused her eyes on his face, and closed her eyes when his lips came down and claimed hers.

Sasuke's chest rumbled. He immediately knew he was out of his mind when his hands wandered from her face to her body. But he couldn't stop himself.

Someone's face flashed in his mind as his hands roamed around.

_Karin_

Sakura squeaked and jerked back when she felt his hands under her shirt, fingering the clasp of her bra. Her eyes filled with shock and surprise, Sakura stared at him as his hands lingered on the small of her back. She wanted to—

What did she want?

"I'm sorry," Sasuke pulled back his hands from where they didn't belong. Getting a hold of himself, he fixed her PE shirt. He didn't know what he was doing, but he just needed to do something.

Sakura slowly grabbed his hand, which was still fiddling around with the end of her shirt and looked at it. This hand has lines of history, scars of the past, healed with the time God has offered. She then brought it to her face and nuzzled his open palm with her cheek.

_The most important things in life aren't heard; they're felt_

He grasped her forearms and pulled her really fast and hard to him. Sakura took in a quick intake of breath but didn't struggle against him. Her hot tears dried against her cheeks as she ran her hand affectionately up and down his back. Her action made him feel even worse about himself.

It was unfair how he would give anything to have her and she was the one person he could never keep.

"Let's go." Sasuke caressed her cheeks and tucked in a lock of hair behind her ear. Once she was able to stand by herself, the both of them walked down the hallway, oblivious to the pairs of eyes staring at them in glee.

"Why don't we call _him_," A voice asked eagerly.

Blood red painted fingernails dialed a number on the cell phone. Before it even rang, another hand shut it off.

"We have to give them time to walk away or else they'll hear us,"

"I can't wait to get these developed," Another voice chuckled darkly.

"About time to give some dirt on her name,"

"Can I call him now?" The voice whined, desperate to wreak havoc.

"Okay, now you can do it,"

As one of them called _him_, one figure stood to the side with her arms crossed against her chest, lips tightened in a line with anger and in frustration. "I don't get it," She whispered in irritation. Power and control bled from every part of him. This was definitely not the kind of man who attracted Sakura.

How ironic…

Opposites attract.

_Ring_

_Ring-CHK-_

"_Hello?" _

Before anything was said, the leader grabbed the phone from her pawn. "Hi, sweetie,"

"_Hi, is there anything wrong?" _

"No, there's nothing wrong. But you won't believe what I saw,"

"_What did you see?" _

"I'll tell you every single detail, Idate."

_**"It is the time you have spent with your rose that makes your rose so important."**_

"So you are sure of it?" A voice asked slowly and smoothly.

"I am sure of it," The woman nodded, keeping her eyes bowed down, careful from lifting her eyes up when needed. Her lips pursed when she didn't hear anything, a reaction of any kind coming from her leader. When she lifted her dark eyes, she noticed the man was now standing up, looking outside of the window with a smirk upon his face.

"Yes," He breathed. He can now taste victory rushing through his veins.

"I-"

A hand rose; immediately she stopped talking.

"What has always been a downfall to man?" He asked.

"What?" The woman was taken back.

"I'll tell you." He continued. "It's Love. It is the one thing that man will kill to possess. The one thing that will make them do things that they would never do." He smiled sinfully and turned his head to the side to regard the woman. "Now, I want you to go there and somehow get a registration to enter that school by today. Once you are there, you will get as much information as you can." The man chuckled darkly.

"Can you do it?"

"Yes," The woman tucked a lock of black hair behind her ear. "I will do it,"

"Go and be gone then," With a wave of his hand she was gone.

"Oh, Sasuke," The man laughed manically. "I've finally found you my dear, dear friend. Now you won't be able to let go of the past as you have hoped to."

His eyes turned to slits as he looked at the door.

"Don't you dare fail me, Karin,"

"_**Hope is the worst of evils, for it prolongs the torment of man"**_

"So when are you going to pay us back again?" Ino droned as she blew at her purple painted nail, trying to dry them before the teacher comes back to class.

"As soon as I can find my wallet," Sakura repeated once more as she shuffled though her school bag.

After she and Sasuke had returned to the gym, the both went their separate ways. Sakura immediately went to the girl's locker room to change into her warm school uniform. She combed her fingers through the wet strands of her hair and was extremely lucky that she made it back to class. When she entered the class, she noticed that Sasuke was already in his seat. Dry and perfect as ever.

"Stop being so harsh on her," Tenten defended Sakura from Ino's glare. "It's not her fault that she tripped and the money fell into the slits of the vending machine."

Hinata nodded in agreement. "It is 32% common that teenagers, even the society, drop their belongings in the most random places one can think of."

"Whatever," Ino rolled her eyes and continued to blow at her nails until Kakashi-sensei entered the room.

Immediately the whole class assembled to their right seats.

"Okay, class," Kakashi-sensei placed a thick folder on his desk. "Today is a day where you meet another new student. Please welcome her to our class." He lifted his hand to signal the student to walk in.

It seems as if a supermodel had just entered the class.

Strutting in front of the class in her school's uniform, stood a tall, thin girl. Her long legs seemed as if they went to Mars as her well proportioned body caught the eyes of the males. Her fiery red hair swayed around her body as she scrutinized the class with her bloody eyes. Her lip glossed lips curved upwards in a gentle smile that cast a spell over the entire class. With her hands clasped together, she bowed down to the class.

"Hello," Her voice had a horrible accent.

Before the class could erupt with laughter, Kakashi-sensei narrowed his eyes in a silent warning.

"She had just come all the way from America today, like our previous student. So please, welcome her to the school, to the city and to the country, for she wishes to study the arts of Japan." Kakashi-sensei explained.

"Kakashi-sensei, can she sit next to me?" A boy's hand shot up in the air, waving for attention.

"No, she has to sit next to me!" A girl exclaimed.

"You wouldn't even know what she's saying!" The boy tried to get some leverage for this battle.

"Oh, and you'll understand her, of all people?" She shot back.

"Okay, class, calm down," Kakashi-sensei looked around the class thoughtfully and smiled. He turned to the student and showed her the seat she will be sitting at. "Sakura, will you please raise your hand,"

Sakura raised her hand and the new student, for some unknown reason, smiled and nodded in immense satisfaction. As she walked down the aisle to her seat, all the boys' eyes were glued to her body.

The new student smiled down at Sakura and sat next to her.

"My name is Sakura, Haruno Sakura," Sakura held a hand to her chest. "Sakura," She repeated once more.

"Sah-KAY-Ra?" The new student's voice cracked from the difficulty.

Sakura giggled and shook her head lightly. "No, Sakura. Sah-Koo-Ra,"

"Sakura," The student smiled and nodded. "I am Karin," She held out her hand. "My name is Karin,"

As Sakura stretched out her arm to shake her hand, she unintentionally looked over Karin's shoulder to see Sasuke's face. His face was shadowed with hatred and anger as he bore his eyes into hers. Or that's what she thought.

Quickly, looking away, Sakura smiled, her hands slightly shaking and nodded. "I hope we become good friends, Karin,"

"Me, too. Me, too."

"_**War is not an adventure. It is a disease. It is like typhus."**_


	8. Alive out of Habit

**Chapter 8: Alive out of Habit**

"_**Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking together in the same direction"**_

As soon as a few hours had passed by, the bell rang to let the students out. When Sakura was putting all her stuff away, Karin stood at the side waiting for her patiently with a look of scrutiny on her face. Sakura had offered to take Karin around the streets and show her the wonderful life of Japan.

Once she was finished, they started walking towards the exit of the school. Sakura was surprised to see Sasuke standing by the gate. His eyes were narrowed and were as sharp as a hawk as he observed Karin.

Sakura walked towards the gate with a questioning look. "Are you okay? Is anything wrong?" Her hand was lifted, ready to touch his arm for a sign of comfort.

"No," His voice was as icy as his look. But he never looked down at Sakura; he kept his eyes focused on Karin.

Sakura pulled her hand back before she touched him. He wasn't the same gentle person he was before. She didn't know why but she felt a horrid pang hit her heart from his attitude. "Oh, okay," Sakura shook her emotions away. "Sasuke, this is Karin," She turned towards Karin. "Karin, this is Uchiha Sasuke,"

Karin smiled sweetly and bowed down. "Hello, Uchiha Sasuke,"

Sasuke didn't do anything. He stared down at the girl who dared to feign her real identity. His eyes pierced into her fiery crimson ones with intensity and agitation.

Karin squeaked and hid behind Sakura, which was pretty impossible.

Sakura glared at Sasuke with anger. He has no reason to be so cruel to the new student. He doesn't even know the new student.

When Sasuke looked at Sakura, he was shocked to see such rage coming from her eyes. Immediately his cold demeanor melted away and his eyes filled with astonishment. He forgot all about Karin for a split second. "Sakura,"

His soft voice caught the attention of Karin.

Karin looked over Sakura's shoulder and got the biggest shock of her life. There was Sasuke standing in front of Sakura with a look of apology. He was looking at_ her_, out of all people, with the look that she, herself had never seen. A vicious stab of unwarranted jealousy went through her. She grimaced; it was true, Uchiha Sasuke had fallen head over heels for someone.

Sakura shook her head. "Sasuke, why are you scaring Karin? You don't even know her." She sighed fiercely. She was confused. He was so soft and gentle before, why is he acting so cold towards her and the new student? She looked down at her cell phone and noticed something. "I'm sorry Karin, but I don't think I can show you the area today. I just remembered I had to go get something."

"It's okay," Karin smiled, bringing out an angrier aura from Sasuke. "Promise that you'll buy me ice cream tomorrow though."

Sakura nodded and smiled slightly. "I promise," Without even looking at Sasuke, she walked past him.

Sasuke combed his hand through his hair viciously as he stared longingly at Sakura's disappearing figure. She didn't look at him! How he would die to see her-

"Hn, it seems as if the famous Uchiha Sasuke has fallen for someone,"

That evil sugar-coated voice stabbed him through the chest. Sasuke whipped his head to look at Karin's envious face. The smallest mistake he had done had become the biggest mistake of a lifetime. He leered down upon her, intimidating her.

She narrowed her eyes dangerously at him when she realized what he was doing. Karin took a graceful step back and smirked at him. "I'm not intimidated by that, fool," Her lip glossed mouth curved upwards sinisterly. "I guess it seems like it's true. You don't know how much _he's_ going to like this,"

Sasuke took a step towards her and raised a hand to caress her cheek. Karin shivered. He had such cold emotionless eyes. His hand lazily curved up her head and down to her neck to lace his fingers within her tendrils. He tightened his fist in her hair and forced her to look up to him. "If you even lay a finger on her, or if one of those goons lay a finger on her, I will make the rain pour blood upon this godforsaken Earth," He viciously let go of her hair, causing Karin to stagger back.

He looked down at her as if she was a disease. "Go back to _him_ and tell _him_ that I will meet him face to face," Sasuke walked down the street hoping that she would leave him alone. She didn't; she paddled right after him like a puppy.

The jealousy was still waving inside of Karin. It was suppose to be her and Sasuke! They were meant to be, right? "How did someone so great fall for someone like her?" Karin started talking in her mother language. "Whatever happened to-"

"To what?" He interrupted her

"Sasuke," The softness of Karin's voice made his eyes hardened.

"What?" He said calmly as he turned and looked at her emotionlessly.

Karin gasped and took a step back from his murderous expression. The rumors were true. He really did fall in love with that girl! That immature, incompetent—CHILD! She pouted her lips and sucked up the leftover courage she had to step in his arms. She wrapped her arms around him and sniffed delicately. "Whatever happened to…us?"

Sasuke growled and pushed her away.

This is why he didn't want to have sex with her in the first place.

He knew this was going to happen.

"I merely used you for sex," He stabbed her with those words. "Nothing more and nothing less,"

Karin felt the tears threatening to drip down her cheeks.

An ire flared up in the air as Karin narrowed her eyes dangerously.

"Well, guess what! Your precious little lover will be-" Karin didn't finish her sentence.

Sasuke growled fiercely when he heard her measly yet great threat. He grabbed her by the neck and slung her against the wall of a nearby store. "Do you dare?" He asked calmly. He didn't let her respond. He tightened his fingers around her neck until the veins started jutting out of her neck and her face turned an interesting shade of purple.

Karin clawed at his hand but he wouldn't let go. He slammed her once more against the wall and released her neck. She collapsed in a heap and gasped for air, feeling the burning sensation as the oxygen rushed down her throat.

"Don't do anything you'll regret," With those intensifying words, Sasuke left Karin.

She weakly sneered at his figure disappearing within the hoards of people. "You're such a fool," Whipping out a cell phone, Karin dialed a number and waited for an answer.

"_Yes,"_

"It's confirmed."

"_Did you see her face?" _

"Yes, I saw the face of his lover."

"_Good,"_

She shut the phone and limps away among the crowd of people.

"_**The knight who fights too long against dragons becomes a dragon himself"**_

She lightly swung the baseball bat in her hand as she walked down the street, thinking about how her mother and stepfather had already left for Hawaii today. She didn't expect them to leave _that_ fast and_ that_ sudden. It was on a sudden whim. Sakura knew that they have wanted to go to Hawaii for so long but she didn't think they were THAT desperate. That was what she read from her text earlier. She sighed and stared at the baseball bat in her hand. She had bought it on a "whim" to play with Aristotle; she wanted to go to the park and play catch with him.

And let all the anger flow to the bat as she hit that wretched ball…

As Sakura moved to a corner of a street, she noticed how long the stop light was taking and wanted to take a shortcut. She look longingly to the alley way but there was a little fear in her that screamed. Squashing down her fear, she walked towards the alley.

Feeling a tiny flare of safety, Sakura gripped the bat tighter in her hands.

She heard rats squeaking from the side, running around, darting in between her legs. Sakura yelped when one of them brushed her leg. She began to run down the alleyway with the bat held up above her head.

"I'm never going to do this again!" She gasped as she continued to run.

When she stopped, she noticed something dreadful. As she was running, she heard quick steps behind her.

Multiples of them.

Not even daring to look back, Sakura quickly turned a corner and lengthened her strides to outrun the followers. She should have never taken the alleyway.

She turned another corner and she gasped when she noticed she was at a dead end.

A dead end-

For a dead girl

"Well, well, finally you've stopped,"

Sakura turned around with the bat in her hand. There were six men in total and all of them looked as deadly as the metal bars they held in their hands.

She took a step back and held the bat in front of her. "Leave me alone-"

"Or what? You'll hurt us?" The one with the horrid white hair sneered; his Japanese was a little shaky, but understandable. "Little girl, you don't have the power to even touch us." He caressed the bat with his hand, dirt under his fingernails. "Why don't you be a nice little girl and come along with us. We won't hurt you."

"Never," She narrowed her eyes.

"Then you leave us no choice," He chuckled. "Get her."

Sakura was shaking. She didn't know how to fight. She didn't think she would have the strength to fend for herself.

As one of the thugs ran straight for her, instincts and reflexes twitched from deep inside of her.

She caught him against the arm with enough force to make him drop the metal bar. She then swung the bat in a neat arc with all her strength, catching him against the head. He went down like a rock.

"Bitch!" Another snarled.

The thug, who cursed at her, took the bat from her hand and shoved it into her stomach. She cried out before doubling over in pain. Before she could even move away, he swung the bat and caught her against the leg. She yelped and fell on the concrete.

"Now, now, my little girl," The white dyed guy walked towards her. "Why don't you just submit and come with us? I promise I won't hurt you…much."

"…." She didn't say anything.

"I'm assuming that's a yes," He bent down to grab her arm.

Sakura glared up at him with menacing eyes. "As I had said before: Never,"

She quickly stood and struck out with her arm only to have him dodge her blow He then straighten up to deliver a staggering strike to her ribs. The pain drove her straight to her knees once more. He seized her by the arm and slung her onto the floor furiously.

Sakura cried out as her delicate hip hit the concrete.

That cry ignited a demon.

And little did the thugs knew that they were in for it-

Big time

Quickly, Sakura got the strength from God knows where, and stood back up. Instinctively, she went to hit him, only to have him move away, lightning fast. This time when he tried to strike her, he was slammed into the building beside her.

"Leave her alone!" Sasuke snarled.

"Holy shit! It's _him!_" The thug who took her bat, dropped it. The thud echoed throughout the alley.

"BlackDragon!"

Sasuke stood there, power bleeding from his every pore.

It was her cry that ignited this awaken demon

A sleepy demon

And they will pay the consequences

"Boss! What do we do?" One of the members whispered loudly.

Suigetsu watched the girl and the demon. He noticed how Sasuke had placed himself between them and the girl as if protecting her. Who was she? Was she really that important? His eyes narrowed as he scratched the top of his white head. His mouth dropped open as soon as he realized something.

She is **his** lover.

Sakura gazed at Sasuke. Her heart swelled up as soon as she had seen him and knew it was all going to be over. Soon or later this nightmare will die down.

"Sasuke," She whispered.

He was her hero—and this was the second time he was saving her from muggers.

As much as the boss hated it, he must withdraw from this fight.

"We're leav-" But before he could finish his sentence, Sasuke flew towards the group. There was a craving bloodlust in those deep dark eyes.

It was animalistic

It wasn't humane

Sasuke pulled back his arm and smashed his fist into the white haired man. He went flying backwards and hit the wall with such force that the building trembled. Once the boss fell to the floor, Sasuke grabbed him by the collar and hauled him up.

"Who sent you?" Sasuke spoke in his mother language.

The boss couldn't speak because Sasuke suddenly grabbed his throat and began to tighten his hand.

One of the thugs grabbed the fallen bat and swung it to hit Sasuke on the shoulder.

Sakura cried out when the bat made a connection to his shoulder. But he didn't wince or even flinch. She got up and ran to the guy, trying to wrestle the bat away from him. But he was too strong and too stubborn to let go of the bat.

Someone grabbed her and pulled her away from the fight.

Sasuke's black eyes burning into her. "I'm stronger, you're weak."

_I will survive, you might not_

Sakura was maneuvered towards an empty, safe spot in the alley. The way he was full of lethalness right now was frightening yet fascinating. He was sadistically beautiful. A face of an angel. No heart. No thoughts. His lips curving in a sinful sickening smile.

It was all up to Sasuke now.

He looked back slowly, a deadly glint in his eyes. Sasuke had released the boss' neck and turned towards the man who dared hit him with the bat to find Sakura fighting him. Now his blood was boiling to a familiar point.

He hadn't felt this kind of power in a long time.

The guy was backing up, trembling as his shaky fingers faltered and the bat hit the ground with a thud. But that didn't stop Sasuke from turning into an animal.

Sakura painfully watched Sasuke walking towards the guy who was shivering in fear. She noticed that the other men were now making a battle ring around Sasuke and the man. "Sasuke, watch out!" She yelled when she noticed one of the men rushed forward to attack him.

It was fluid, violent, and morbidly beautiful.

He kicked out his leg at the man who rushed him and watched as he dropped to the floor. Instantly, Sasuke kicked him at the head. The snap of his neck breaking rushed through his brain and he grinned menacingly, sadistically.

It was time for BlackDragon to arise.

At the snap of the man's neck, the rest of the gang threw themselves at Sasuke, their metal bars raised above their head.

Sakura cried out when one of the metal bars hit Sasuke in the face. Tears were coming out of her eyes as she continued to watch the fight. And she hated it.

She was useless.

Sasuke ground his teeth as pain exploded along his cheek to his nose, and he tasted the coppery substance coming into his mouth.

He smiled grimly as he felt a trail of blood run from the corner of his lips.

Suigetsu rose from the ground, staggering as he stood. He watched with horrid eyes as Sasuke killed all of his men, one by one. Such power and such anger were radiating off of him and he could feel it. He shivered and turned his head to the side when he heard a sniffle.

It was his lover.

He sneered. He wouldn't dare touch her after he had brushed up close to death.

She was poison to him—

And to Sasuke

"Retreat!" The boss yelled throughout the alley, and immediately all the men ran from the circle except for three men. Too bad they couldn't move because they were dead.

As Suigetsu ran towards the car parked near the alley, he smiled grimly.

They were going to have to retrieve BlackDragon's lover-

Secretly

He wouldn't have a chance to save her then.

Sakura ran towards Sasuke when the muggers had run off. Sasuke was clutching at his stomach with extreme pain shown on his face. She raised a hand to place it on his shoulder only to be yelled at.

"Don't touch me!" Sasuke's voice was sinister as he spoke those words, reinforcing his lethalness. He tried to ward Sakura off with his hand outstretched.

Sakura gasped and covered her mouth with her hands.

His hand was covered with blood.

Blood completely coated the underside of his shirt.

His head was blasting with pain, he winced as the pain lacerated through him. Sasuke clutched at his stomach and his hand was fisted at his temple. He stood immobile while vicious, horrid images tore through his memory. Memories he wanted to disappear, but were brought back up today.

He hated his memories almost as much as he hated himself.

"Sasuke?"

He turned at the soft voice that went down him like a silken caress.

With gentleness Sakura wouldn't have thought of him to have, his dark, deadly gaze softened. The one corner of his lips curved upwards slightly and he moved forward.

Disoriented, Sasuke slowed, stumbling forward until he couldn't go any farther.

The blackness covered his vision, leaving the image of Sakura with a pain stricken face, reaching for him.

He was an idiot.

And he was attracted to her.

The human heart is such a mystery.

"_**A place where memories are forgotten"**_


	9. Angel in your Eyes, Poison in your Heart

**Chapter 9: Angel in your Eyes, Poison in your Heart **

"_**The worlds more full of weeping than you can understand"**_

_The moonlight cast shadows over the handsome planes of his face and showed the tears in his clothing where he was bleeding profusely. But he had no care in the world for his wounds, his pain. BlackDragon's face didn't show any expression of agony nor of care as he gazed around the ground full of dead bodies._

_He looked around himself in the battlefield that has been created. The dead bodies lying on the floor made him feel powerful, deadly-_

_Invincible_

_BlackDragon kicked someone's head out of his way as he walked through the numerous bodies. He ignored his men standing in front of him, shivering in fear and excitement. He, himself had defeated part of the WhiteTiger's army with his own hands; his men didn't lift a finger to help, because he didn't want it. He smirked cruelly, relishing the pain and blood on the floor, coating his shoes. His face was immediately wiped of emotion when he reached his companions—_

_His usage…._

"_Boss," The group of men greeted him as he had approached. _

_BlackDragon didn't say anything. He watched his men with his dark intensifying eyes. _

"_Boss!" One man parted from the group and bowed to him. "The car is ready to take us from-" His words stopped immediately when he met BlackDragon's deadly eyes. _

"_No," He said softly as he looked towards the sky. It was dark, small sparkles in the sky seemed so lonely and depressing. Such a corrupted and evil world he lived in. Was there no good? Turning away, BlackDragon looked over his shoulder. "Go back to base and work more plans," _

_No one dared to say no. _

_He walked over the bodies around him, and into the dark streets of America. The blood thirst and fury he felt soon dissipated into nothing. _

_The lonely stars blinked above him. _

_At such an age of manhood did BlackDragon has conquered thirty souls. He joined this war of deceit and treachery long ago—at a wretched age. But nothing has come about to stop him from continuing this blood bath. _

_It was a dream-_

_A frightful dream life is_

_BlackDragon walked around the empty dark streets. There were prostitutes lingering around light poles, flashing their naked flesh at random people once in a while. Drug dealers were hanging out by a bankrupt gas station, switching money and drugs with no hesitation or worry of getting caught. This was the one place that not even the police would come to. _

"_Hey," A husky voice broke BlackDragon from his thoughts. _

_He stopped abruptly and turned his head to look down at his side. There were curious red eyes twinkling with mischief and pleasure. Soft pink lips puckered. _

_The full moon above distorted shadows. _

_BlackDragon slightly narrowed his eyes and disengaged her arm from his. _

_He hated filth. _

"_Where you going?" The girl, not even close to the age of 17, trailed after him. _

_It was becoming annoying. _

"_Want to go back there?" She grabbed his hand and tried to drag him back towards the rundown gasoline station. "I know how to make your night become magical," She giggled. But her laughter and humor stopped when he stuffed crumpled dollar bills down her blouse. She blushed when his fingers brushed lightly against the top of her chest. _

"_Go back home and fix yourself," He walked away._

"_Hey, hey!" _

_BlackDragon clenched his fists angrily. He sighed heavily impatiently and turned to the girl. _

_She bowed low with a grateful smile on her face. "Thank you," She said softly. She then held out her hand and introduced herself. "My name is Karin," _

_He looked at her and then turned away as he continued his walk._

"_Hey, I have to know the name of my knight!" Karin ran after him. She winced as one of her heels was biting in the back of her ankle. She needed new shoes. _

"_My name," BlackDragon stopped and looked at the girl. "I don't have a name. I merely go by BlackDragon," _

_Karin cocked her head to the side. "BlackDragon? What kind of name is that?" _

"_I have no other name than that," _

"_Hm," Karin put a hand to her face. "Why don't I give you a name?" _

"_A name?" _

"_Yeah, a name." She smiled as she took a step forward towards him. "Why don't I name you…Sasuke," _

"_Sasuke?" _

"_Yeah, Sasuke. A name from somewhere I can't think of." Karin said. "And it fits your demeanor perfectly. _

_BlackDragon smiled inwardly. _

_That was something missing in his life: A name. _

_Something to call himself by. BlackDragon sighed. Little did Karin know that the Uchiha Sasuke she heard of was standing in front of her. The deadly man born on this planet. _

"_See, you gave me money to fix up my messed up life, and I give you a name so you can be a part of this world. Nobody wants to leave this world with no purpose, right?" _

"_Hn," _

_Karin took a step back and smiled. She waved her hand softly and bowed down to him. "Bye Sasuke. I hope we meet again one day." _

_Little did she know, that the next time they meet again was going to be the death of her._

_BlackDragon stared after her disappearing figure, he was—_

_He clutched his head in pain. _

_What is this? _

_What is this pain?_

_He groaned loudly and collapsed to his knees. _

_He felt as if his head was going to split in half-_

"Sasuke?"

Sakura got up immediately from her seat and fluttered around his bed. Hovering above him, her eyes filled with worry and concern. Sasuke was lying on her bed, bandages covering his chest and his shoulder. His eyes were partially opened, but he wasn't speaking. He held his jaw clamped firmly shut as he groaned deep in his throat with pain.

"Sasuke?"

His eyes opened and his breath was taken away.

He lifted his hand to caress her soft face. But his hand refused to listen to his command. Sasuke lifted his head up painfully to see that his hand was immobile, in Sakura's grasp. Her fingers were stroking his hand softly.

"Saku-" Sasuke coughed violently, immediately sitting up from a bed. He groaned when his side began to burn with passion.

Sakura lightly pushed him back against her bed. "Don't move, you'll reopen you're wounds," She brushed the hair that was in his face to a side.

Sasuke grabbed that hand. "Where am I?"

"You're in my house," Sakura blushed slightly when Sasuke had grasped her hand. "After the fight, I called someone to help me. I put you in my bed and fixed your wounds."

Sasuke looked around his surroundings. It was different from his small apartment. This room was filled with mirth and vitality. The walls were a pale shade of pink, and there was carpet on the floor. The room was neatly decorated with colors and furniture. He noticed a picture on her desk.

It was Sakura and Idate smiling for the camera.

Feeling anger and jealousy erupting in him, he nodded and released her hand. Sasuke awkwardly fiddled with the bed sheets, noticing how quickly he missed the warmth of her hand. "How long have I been here? I feel like I've slept forever," He rubbed at his eyes.

"It's been two days since the fight," Sakura informed. She slowly brought her hand back to herself when she saw how a sudden barrier stood between them. She coughed uncomfortably.

"Really?" Sasuke glared at the ceiling with emotionless eyes. He slowly sat up and winced as he felt the cut opening. "It's been two days already?"

"Sasuke," Sakura frowned and tried to push him down. "You're wounds are going to open again,"

Notice she tried.

Sasuke pushed her hands away roughly and ignored her. He was hurt—mentally and physically. Was she still in love with that bastard, who caused her pain? He cursed loudly. He kissed the girl he fell for and she was after someone else.

"Sasuke, stay down!" Sakura narrowed her grey eyes at him. "You're going to hurt yourself!" She tried to push him down, but he slapped her hands away.

Just like he did before when he didn't trust her.

"Why do you care?" Sasuke ignored her sudden intake of air and sat up anyways. He sighed heavily and ignored the pinpricks of pain stabbing at his side. "Why don't you take care of your precious Idate, since you still keep a picture of him?"

Sakura flinched at that name. She slowly turned to the desk and saw the picture on her desk. She stared at the picture with hurt and agony.

It wasn't easy

It was hard

"It isn't…" Her voice trailed off.

Sasuke scoffed at her hesitation. "Give me my shirt," He threw the blanket away from him and swung his legs over the bed. He was still wearing pants, but his upper body was nude, besides the bandages that wrapped around his waist. He touched the bandages softly, hurting.

"What?" Sakura snapped her head back to Sasuke.

"I'm going," He stood despite the pain he felt. He saw his bloodied black shirt draped on her chair. Sasuke grabbed it and slowly started to put it on.

"No!" His shirt was ripped away from him.

"What the hell?" Sasuke glared at Sakura with anger. "Give me my shirt," He held out his hand.

"You're still hurt," Sakura hid it behind her, out of reach.

"Why do you care? Why don't you go back to your lover and-"

"Because I care for you!"

The sincerity on her face burned through him. Sasuke sighed in exasperation. "No you don't," He turned away, but she grabbed his arm, forcing him to look at her.

"Yes, I do!" Sakura grabbed his face in between her hands. "I care for you because…" Her voice faltered. "Because…." She hesitated. Sakura wasn't a professional at expressing her feelings for someone she obviously fell for. She looked at Sasuke to see his eyes were hard and motionless.

"Because?" He questioned, wanting her to go further.

"I…I…" Sakura bit her lip and looked away.

Sasuke chuckled quietly. "You don't care," He grabbed his shirt from her limp hands, and turned to leave.

How sickening he was. He wanted to keep her yet she was in love with someone else. And what surprises him was the jealousy churning inside of him. Including the fact that he still wants her by his side—HIS side. He sighed heavily. Such a love that cannot come true.

It was impossible.

He took a step out the door.

"Don't put words in my mouth!"

Something smacked him at the back of his head. Before Sasuke could find out what it was, he was suddenly attacked with something soft.

Sakura pulled back her pillow and began to attack him. "How dare you say those things for me! I've been caring for you for a long time now! It's hard for me to express myself to you, since you're so—ARGH!" She continued to raid him with the pillow even when he was down on the ground. "I can't believe you,"

When Sakura had pulled back, Sasuke was sitting on the floor, stunned.

She had beaten him with a pillow.

"UGH!" She threw her hands up and stormed out of the room. "Leave if you want, since YOU don't care what I do for you," Her angry steps reverberated through the house. "Idiot," She cursed with a sharp note in her voice that caused him to arch a brow at her audacity.

Sasuke was still on the floor, stunned by her actions.

She had beaten him with a pillow.

She had beaten him with a pillow.

She had beaten him with a pillow.

She had beaten him with a pillow.

What was wrong with this?

He cursed and glared daggers at the pillow lying next to him. He, Uchiha Sasuke, was beaten by a pillow by the girl he had feelings for. Not even the members in his gang would raise a finger to touch him. Not even his enemies would touch him if they had the choice. Not even animals would come to him willingly and walk next to him.

It was extremely disconcerting

Sasuke cursed. He was turning soft.

Too soft

This was wrong on so many levels.

RING! RING! RING!

Sasuke grabbed his cell phone from his pants and looked at it suspiciously. He hadn't used this phone in so long, because nobody called him. He looked at the caller ID and his heart literally stopped.

_Uchiha Itachi_

He was up in within a second. Sasuke clenched the cell phone tightly in his hand as he peered outside the door. There was a staircase that led to the kitchen. He saw Sakura standing in front of the stove, stirring a wooden spoon in a pot filled with a heavy delicious aroma.

Eyeing her, Sasuke quietly walked back in her room and opened the cell phone.

"Itachi," He said emotionlessly, in his mother language.

"_BlackDragon," _

The voice was deep and mysterious, giving Sasuke a churn in the stomach, for he had not heard this voice in so long.

He only heard it when danger was to arrive.

"To what do I owe this call?" Sasuke approached the window, slightly lifting up the cover to see the street outside. There were two children playing with a dog as the mother watched over them with cautious loving eyes.

"_You and HER are in danger," _

Sasuke was silent for a moment. "How many knows?"

"_About her? Everybody in America knows," _

"Everybody?"

"_Even the WhiteTiger knows." _

Sasuke moved away from the window, and sighed in irritation. "God damn," He cursed and sat on the bed. "What am I going to do?" He whispered as he buried his head in his hands.

"_You want an advice, BlackDragon?" _

He narrowed his eyes. "What are you thinking?"

"_Either you take her with you-"_

"She'll die if I do that,"

"_Or you completely avoid her," _

Sasuke paused and sat there, staring at nothing as he weighed out his options. "I'll…." His voice trailed away when Sakura walked inside with a tray. There was an aroma of food and warm tea circulating around the air, making Sasuke's stomach growl in appreciation. "Here's some food and tea," She growled, obviously still angry.

He immediately turned off his phone and hid it quickly as she laid the tray upon the table. "What is it?"

"Hm, piss and poison in your tea," Sakura sarcastically smiled. "Oh, but I also put some lysergic acid diethylamide in your soup." She snapped then turned towards the door with a haughty gait.

"Wait," He grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"Ooh, don't touch me or your hand might blow up," Sakura sneered. "Or even maybe your-" She was interrupted at her mid-sentence.

"I'm sorry," Sasuke apologized.

She stared at him with her unmoving eyes. "Am I supposed to say that? Cause I know you like to put words in my mouth," She moved away from him and scoffed. "Sasuke, you're so-" But once again she was interrupted.

But instead of words to interject

It was a kiss

He wrapped his arms around her body and pulled her closer, yearning for her warmth and touch. He groaned at the taste of her sweet lips, and the softness of them.

When Sasuke finally pulled away, he looked down to see confused eyes.

"I was," He paused for a moment and tried to explain about the situation he created. "I was...when I saw that picture…on the desk, I…I thought you were still in love with him." He growled slightly at the memory of Idate. "It's not easy to express myself…this way,"

Sakura stared up at him, feeling guilty about her behavior. She looked away from him and sighed. He had a reason to treat her the way he did. Sakura nodded and tried to step away from his embrace. But he held on tight.

"No. I want to stay like this for a while," Sasuke said softly, bringing her once more closer to him. "I want to stay like this, if you'll let me." He felt his heart jerk painfully. Because this was the last time he would be able to hold her like this.

The last time he would talk to her.

The last time he would look at her.

The last time he would smile at her.

Sasuke sighed and looked down at Sakura as he smiled.

Sakura felt as if her heart lurched against her chest. It was the second time she'd seen a real smile from him. The gesture softened his features and tugged at her heart. Sakura smiled back at him and hugged him. She patted his back, stepped away and then gave him the tea she made.

"It's green tea. It'll help with the wounds," Sakura watched him drink it, making sure that he drank it all.

Sasuke drank it down, staring at her the whole time over the rim of the cup. Sakura blushed and looked away awkwardly. When she moved away, he grabbed her arm, turning her to look at him.

Might as well break it off now

"Sakura, I-" But she interrupted him.

She immediately recognized that look on his face. "What's going on?" Sakura interrupted him as she looked at him worryingly. "Why are you looking at me as if this will be the last time we're together?" Sakura grabbed his hand and gripped onto it tight. "What's wrong?"

"I," Sasuke started. "I…" He sighed in aggravation, realizing that this was going to be harder than he thought it would be.

"I am right," She narrowed her eyes and tightened her grip on him harder.

"It's not easy," Sasuke stepped away from her and tried to pull his hand away from her grasp. But her stubborn attitude at the moment wouldn't let him. "Sakura, we can't be together anymore,"

"No," She stated stubbornly and tightened her hold.

He sighed. "Sakura, this isn't easy for me either-"

"I'm never going to leave you," Sakura held onto his hand even tighter. Sasuke tried to pry her fingers off of his hand, but she wouldn't let him. He wrestled for his hand, while she held onto it as if it were her life.

"Sakura," Sasuke growled out impatiently.

"Even heaven is hell without you," Sakura stubbornly stated. "I…I…love you," She whispered softly, her eyes bore into his.

Those precious words stole Sasuke's breath away. Her eyes were misty, seductive-looking and prized. His heart jumped at those words, but his mind fell to the floor. She wouldn't be able to survive in his world, and it would be cruel of him to let her. Sasuke slowly pulled her fingers away from his hand. "I can't,"

Sakura chuckled sadly and threw his hand back to him. Her stomach shrank at those words. "I get it now," She looked at him with the saddest eyes he's ever seen. "You're sick of me,"

"No, it's not-"

"You…you," Sakura shook her head. "This is unbelievable. You kissed me when I was so vulnerable and you kissed me back there as if you were desperate for something new or..or…Agh! And now you're leaving me. First Idate, and now you," She laughed bitterly. "Maybe I should just forgive Idate and get back together with him. He'll then use me, but keep me by his side-"

Sasuke grasped her arms and shook her ferociously. "No, you will not go back with him!"

Sakura broke out of his grasp. "What if I do, huh? What are you going to do? Kiss me again? Break my heart and leave me alone?" She screamed at him.

"Sakura!" Sasuke growled. "I'm not sick of you!" He made a gesture as if he'd like to choke her.

"Then what is it?"

"I…" Sasuke turned away from her. "What if I'm not the person you think I am? What if I'm…" He sighed once more. It was getting harder and harder for him to tell her. He could already see her face full of fear, backing away from him and dashing through the house as if he was a killer—which he was. He shook his head. How heartbreaking it was to imagine.

She grabbed his hand and looked up at him. "Whoever you are, I don't care," Her voice full of sincerity.

"How can you say that? I'm an animal," He looked away from her, disgusted with himself.

"No you're not," Sakura grabbed his head and forced him to look at her. "You can't possibly be the bad guy. You're too caring and too…"

"You don't know me…" He was angry, beyond angry. How can someone accept his corrupted life with such ease? He stepped up to her fast with deadly speed, making her walk into the corner of her room. "I can kill you now and nobody would notice," He surrounded her with power and danger. With the promise of lethal reflexes. He was trying to make her fear him and she knew it.

His fatal presence alone was terrifying

"Would you really hurt me?" Sakura whispered. When he had backed her into the corner of her room, his steps toward her were in a manner so feral that for a second it actually scared her.

"No," He immediately answered. But he can hurt her, unintentionally.

They were silent.

"And besides," Sakura broke the pregnant pause. "How can I fall in love with a bad guy, when all I see is someone so caring?"

She blinked in surprise when he grabbed her arm and forced their fingers to intertwine. He brought their linked hands to his chest.

Sasuke stared deep down in to her eyes, until he felt like he was going to drown in them. His lips hovered above hers, smiling slightly when she saw how much he meant to her. Still he didn't kiss her. He stared down at her as if waiting for her to shove him away or turn her head. His lips hung over hers as his eyes burned voraciously.

Sakura tiptoed and kissed him. "Whoever you are, it's okay with me. I will live and die for you. Wherever or whatever is our role in that world, I will live just as long as you're alive." She rested her head against his chest, smiling slightly as she heard his heart beat.

"But what if we are both on the wrong sides? Would you still take that chance?" He pulled away from her as he asked.

The soft kiss Sakura gave him, told him everything.

Yes, this relationship was inevitable.

They would be together

Whether or not they live

Or die

"_**Even Heaven is Hell without you"**_


	10. My Drug Addiction

**Chapter 10: My Drug Addiction**

"_**Am I still living in the real world or am I in a fairy tale?"**_

It was night. The moon hung in the sky with a sad demeanor, the stars blinking down upon Earth with a mellow aura. The trees didn't sway with the wind, and the wind didn't whisper any love words to Mother Earth. The night was silent, dreary and deserted.

When Sasuke had fallen asleep after eating his meal, Sakura cleaned the house. She looked around the desolated area with a sad smile on her face, listening to the muteness.

Her mother and step-father went to Hawaii.

While Ami left a cruel message on the phone saying that she was spending the rest of the week at Idate's house until their parent's arrived.

Sakura walked up the stairs and into her room. She, once again, cracked a depressing smile when she gazed over to Sasuke, sleeping on her bed. She smoothed back his hair from his forehead and giggled as she saw Sasuke's lip curve upwards. A few seconds afterwards, Sakura grabbed the picture she had on her desk and exited it out with it in her hands. She entered the kitchen and sat down on the table. She stared at it sadly.

Sakura stared at the picture, and gently caressed Idate's smiling face with her thumb. They were so much in love for the past two years, that Sakura believed she was a princess in a fairy tale. And suddenly their eternal love disappeared when Ami came in the picture.

Why did she keep the picture?

Because she was still stuck in time—in that fairytale

She chuckled softly and removed the picture from the frame. She grabbed a black sharpie from one of the kitchen drawers, letting it hover above the picture.

She began to scribble a face out.

Such violent and hard scribbles

With lips tightening

As the tears fell out

She had not blacked out Idate's face—

But her own

"Such a weak, pathetic girl," She put so much pressure onto the sharpie that it began to dull. Sakura continued to scrawl her face out, feeling even more anger and agony seeping inside her. "Weak, weak, weak, pathetic girl." Giving out a frustrated cry, Sakura threw the sharpie across the kitchen.

"Damn weakling!" She grabbed the picture and rushed to the stove. Sakura viciously ripped Idate's face away and threw him to the side, with no importance. His picture fluttered to the floor, turning upside down.

She turned on the gas and held her blackened face above the fire, her teary green eyes reflecting from the flame.

Her eyes watched as the fire grew bigger, trying to lick at the edge of the picture to satisfy its hunger.

In a split second, her arm was pulled back.

Sasuke pulled her towards him, engulfing her in his arms. He softly rubbed her back as she gave out ugly hoarse cries. She buried her face at his shoulder and wrapped her arms around him tight. The picture in her hand crumpled into a pitiful heap.

"I'm worse than pity," Sakura cried. His hands softly stroking her hair made her cry even more.

"You're not weak," Sasuke said softly.

Sakura ripped away from his arms with an angry snivel. "I am weak! I am pathetic! I couldn't even protect myself from the muggers or the thugs from the alley. It was you who defended me and was hurt. You're the one who helped me all those times, when I couldn't even lift a finger to help," She glared at him, feeling an angry bubble rising.

She began to curse colorful words.

Sasuke eyes slightly widened when she started a stringful of oaths.

"I'm so weak! I hate myself!" She punched the wall of the kitchen, crying out in pain when one of her knuckles cut into the wall. It was bleeding slightly. "Goddamn! I mean look at this! I'm so pathetic!"

"No, you're not," Sasuke grabbed her injured hand and held it gently. "If you were weak, you wouldn't be able to accept who I really am," The churning in his stomach made him uncomfortable, because he didn't really tell her who he was.

"But-"

"But nothing," Sasuke lifted his hand to trace the angel of her jaw with the back of one knuckle. "Sakura, you may not be as strong physically, but you're strong mentally. I have never met anyone like you," His thumb lightly traced back and forth on her lips.

It took seconds for her to get a grip on herself and calm down. Such small things a lover can do to comfort her.

"Sasuke," She said softly. "You're something," She laughed. "I don't know, what I would've done if I hadn't met you."

He scoffed. "You would've jumped off the school's building. That's for sure,"

Sakura flushed prettily in Sasuke's eyes. She coughed in her fist and looked away in embarrassment. "I was stupid. And I didn't know you were there," She looked at him curiously. "What did you think of me when you saw me? I bet you thought I was crazy,"

"You honestly want to know?" Sasuke smirked. "I thought about how great your legs looked in the school's uniform,"

She laughed and lightly punched his arm. "You're something," Her eyes felt heavy and her vision began to get blurry. She laughed once more sleepily and yawned slightly, covering her mouth with her hand, hoping that Sasuke wouldn't notice.

But he noticed everything.

"Let's go sleep," He wrapped his arm around shoulders. Sasuke led her to the stairs. As they walked closer, Sakura hit her hip against the railing of the stairs and collapsed on the floor. She began to burst into laughter, clutching her sides.

"So, you notice everything, huh?" She giggled. She laid there for a moment, closing her eyes and almost fell asleep but snapped her eyes open when she realized what was happening.

Sasuke immediately bent down and scanned her body for injuries. "Are you okay?" He asked with a concern face as he saw how much she was laughing.

"I-I'm great," Sakura slightly lifted her shirt, and saw a bruise. "I hate it that I can bruise as easily as an apple," Before she could get up, Sasuke already had her in his arms, carrying her bridal style up the stairs.

"Wait!" Sakura yelled as she began to struggle. "Put me down, I'm too heavy for your to carry," She tried to get out of his arms, but he held her iron tight.

"Sakura, if you keep struggling we're going to fall off the stairs," Sasuke groaned as he tried to keep his balance. He had to admit, carrying anybody wasn't as easy as it sounds; even a girl.

Once they were in the room, Sasuke placed Sakura on her bed. He grabbed the blanket and placed it upon her. Before he stood up, he looked at her dreamy face. Sakura's eyes were closed, a soft smile played on her face. He brushed her hair away from her face, smoothing out the wrinkles from her forehead.

Such a pretty sight she was

Sasuke stood up and went to turn off the lights. But before he could even stand, Sakura's hand shot out from under the covers and snatched his wrist.

"Sa…suke…" Sakura mumbled. "Stay with me, don't leave me…"

He looked around and grabbed the chair from the desk. When he sat down, he winced when his wound stretched. He held his breath and sat down, praying that it wouldn't open.

"Sasuke…" Sakura reached out and grasped onto his hand. "Come here…or else your injury might open," She weakly began to pull him towards her bed.

"There's no room for the both of us,"

She laughed sleepily. "If Aristotle fits in the bed, you can fit in the bed," Sakura moved to the side, making room for Sasuke's body.

"Aristotle?" A tiny flame flared up. He stopped his movements.

"Yeah, he's in the dog house 'cause my step-dad doesn't let him in the house," Sakura laughed. "He's such a sweet dog,"

Step-dad?

He frowned, but shrugged it off.

"Oh," He coughed into his fist. Sasuke hesitated as he climbed next to her. "Are you sure?"

Sakura pulled on his arm with more force, causing him to topple into the bed. She smiled in satisfaction when she felt the bed dip, telling her that he was on. She then pulled her hand back and sighed, on the edge of falling asleep.

Sasuke laid by her side, laying there, staring up at the ceiling. He drummed his fingers upon his chest in an ongoing rhythm, hoping that time would quickly pass.

"You know what I realized? You haven't smoked since the day I met you," Sakura chuckled softly. "When you smoked next to me, that one day, I felt like I was going to drown in smoke,"

Sasuke stayed silent next to her. He turned his head next to her and noticed how dreamy looking her eyes became. Sasuke sighed as he was getting seconds thoughts once more. She shouldn't be doing this.

_He_ shouldn't be doing this.

He was nothing but a hunted piece of shit whose life was as worthless as a twig.

He sighed once more and closed his eyes.

"If you sigh again, I will seriously beat you with my pillow again," Sakura growled as she turned towards him, her eyes shining with honesty. "I know you're having second thoughts and I don't like that. I'm staying next to you no matter what happens,"

Sasuke opened his mouth, only to have Sakura interrupt him. "I'm staying next to you and it's final,"

The silence rang through the air.

"Have you ever wanted something that you knew was bad for you? Something that you ached for so much that you could think of nothing else," Sasuke turned his head to look at her, his voice full of sorrow. Her eyes were hard and determining.

"Yes, which is why I always end up eating the whole chocolate bar, anyway," Sakura responded with a chuckle. She grabbed his hand and held it tenderly.

"Do you really want to…sacrifice yourself for something as worthless as I am?"

Sakura frowned at his words. "You're not worthless. You are much more than you think," She smiled and closed her eyes. "I will _always_ be with you." She put an emphasis on every one of her words.

Sasuke's eyes softened and his decision was made. He grabbed onto her hand and placed it on his cheek. "Then I want to keep my poison, even if it kills me."

Sakura opened her eyes and frowned at him. "I would never hurt you,"

"It's not safe, though," He reached out to touch her cheek with the back of his fingers. The softness of her skin amazed him.

"I don't care," She shrugged. She yawned and closed her eyes. "Let's go to sleep. We have school tomorrow."

Five minutes later, Sakura knocked out and was snoring softly.

Sasuke stayed up during the night, running his hand through her soft pink hair, watching her as she was sleeping. He smiled softly when her lips curved to a tender smile. He had never been more stunned in his life. In that moment, he felt a strange sense of almost belonging somewhere. It was such a foreign, odd sensation that he wasn't sure how to cope with it.

He kissed the top of her head. He was sure that he will get use to this feeling.

_Karin_

…_.Orochimaru_

He growled angrily when he thought of his enemies. He held onto Sakura's hands as he looked at her sleepy face. How does she have the strength to do this? He shook his head. Sasuke was an animal for bringing her into his corrupted life, and letting her stay in his tainted world.

Some unknown force slammed into his chest at the thought. It stole the breath completely away from him. It went through him like a knife.

Life without her

He fisted his hand in her hair and took in her scent. He brought her closer to him, holding her tight in his arms as if he was scared that she would suddenly disappear from his grasp.

Suddenly, spurts of vibration rang, coming from the nightstand. Confused, Sasuke released Sakura and turned to his side, looking at the nightstand which was next to Sakura's bed.

A small cell phone gave off bright lights, showing the name before it stopped vibrating.

_Okaa-san_

Sasuke couldn't help himself as he reached over to the cell phone. He flipped it open to read a text message.

_To: Haruno Sakura_

_From: Haruno Ayaka (Okaa-san)_

_Message: _

_Happy birthday! ~ I wish I was there to see you open your eyes on your eighteenth birthday. I wish I was there to make you breakfast and give you apples for the big day. I love you, Sakura. God has blessed me with such a beautiful child. I'm so sorry for being a terrible mother…_

_We're still here in Hawaii. We'll be coming home within a week. When I come back, we'll throw a party just for you. _

_Happy Birthday -Okaa-san_

Sasuke closed the phone and put it back. He rolled over and looked back at Sakura. He smiled and let his eyelids close, falling into a short eternal bliss of sleep.

"Will you save me from this wretched life?" Sakura whispered softly in her sleep. A bittersweet smile curved her lips.

Such a sad life

For a condemned man-

And a disparaged woman

"_**Let me be your wings"**_


	11. The Rose and the Wolf

**Chapter 11: The Rose and the Wolf**

"_**The world is full of sins"**_

Something soft was tickling him. Sasuke's nose twitched, hoping the sensation would stop, but it didn't. Grudgingly, he turned his head to avoid it. But the damn object was insistent as it curled at his throat. He cursed as he was forced to open his eyes. His onyx eyes squinted angrily at the pink mass of hair on his arm.

Without thinking he pushed back the hair softly to reveal a sleepy Sakura.

Her head lay against his biceps and his right arm was thrown over her waist. Sasuke woke up that morning with such satisfaction. He stared at her, intrigued by her soft snores. Sasuke raised his hand and cupped her cheek. His thumb softly traced her along the cheekbone. When she looked innocent and pure, free of care from this…this—

Tainted world

Sakura's lip curved in a smiled and nuzzled Sasuke's palm with her cheek. His face expression didn't change, but he was secretly delighted by her actions.

He lightly skimmed his fingertips up and down her arm, loving the way her soft skin felt under his callous. The sun rays slipped past her blinds, spilling deliciously over Sakura. Her skin radiated with life, her hair shone with health. It was purely fascinating. She mumbled his name and snuggled her face into the pillow.  
Sasuke leaned towards her, skimming his lips over her softly.

Sakura opened her green eyes and Sasuke's breath hitched. Her eyes were smoky, swirling with emotions. But that one feeling, which stood out left him breathless:

Love

"Hi," She smiled as she sat up from her bed, rubbed her eyes from the sleep. "What time is it?"

He turned around and read the time. "It's 7:15,"

"Oh," Sakura smiled and cuddled next to him. A second later her eyes snapped open. "We're late for school!" She jumped over Sasuke and ran down the hallway, screaming at the top of her lungs. "Sasuke! Get ready for school! We have to be there by 7:30!"

After a major headache in the morning, both of the students raced inside of the school. Sasuke grasped onto Sakura's hand, bringing out a good feeling deep inside of her. When they had entered the class, the students 'ooh'ed and 'ahh'ed about their open relationship. Sasuke reluctantly released Sakura's hand and they went to their desks.

Sakura sighed. Now she wished that Kakashi-sensei had let Sasuke sit near her.

It was many and many a year ago,

In a kingdom by the sea,

That a maiden there lived whom you may know

By the name of ANNABEL LEE;

And this maiden she lived with no _other_ thought

Than to love and be loved by…

_**Me**_

About two hours later, Sakura raised her hand. "Kakashi-sensei, may I go to the restroom?" At his nod, she got up and started walking to the door.

"Can I use the restroom?"

The whole class turned around in shock to see Sasuke talking. Many of the students mouths were dropped open in surprise. If someone had really good eyes, they could see the anxiety that played in his eyes.

Kakashi-sensei saw it. "She's not going to get kidnapped, Sasuke. She's just going to the restroom. You can use it after she comes back." He turns to Sakura. "Can you come back fast so your boyfriend doesn't explode from concern?"

"Yes, I can," She squeaked.

The class gasped and immediately started whispering amongst each other.

"They're going out?"

"He's her new boyfriend?"

"She didn't correct Kakashi-sensei when he said 'boyfriend'!"

"Ohh, what is Idate going to do?"

"Come back in five minutes, Ms. Haruno," Kakashi-sensei handed her the bathroom pass and waved her away. "I expect you to be on time in order to learn more about the poem written by the English poet: Edgar Allen Poe,"

Sakura nodded. Her face was beet red as she dashed for the door.

"Ino make sure that Sasuke doesn't disappear," Kakashi-sensei's reverberating voice made Sakura's face burn more in embarrassment.

…_But our love-it was __**stronger**__ by far than the love_

_Of the wise_

_And the old_

She walked outside of the building, down the hallway where she could smell the fresh air and see the birds chirping. The bathroom was outside of the school building, something that the administrators have been thinking about reconstructing so that it would be inside the building. They weren't starting soon though.

As she walked down the hallway, she noticed how possessive and protective he was today. She smiled at that thought and liked it for a bit. It was nice to think about someone who was there to protect you; a knight on a white horse. She shook her head as she smiled, continued to walk to the restroom.

Suddenly, a hand slammed in front of her face, creating a loud noise as it smashed to the wall, bringing out a horrified gasp from her. Sakura's eyes widened when she saw Idate and his three friends behind him. Idate had this sneer on his face that triggered fear deep inside of her.

"So, I've heard that you've been making moves on the American transfer student," Idate spat with disgust. His eyes glittered with anger as his three friends smirked from behind. "You have no idea how much that pisses me off,"

Sakura tried to step around him but it was impossible. "Idate, we broke up already. Go away," She said softly.

Idate didn't listen. He snapped his fingers and two of his friends pinned her arms against the wall.

"Let me go!" She struggled but they only tightened their grasp. It was strong enough to make a permanent mark on her arm.

"You indispicable whore," Idate scoffed. "I've went out with you for two years and all I got was a peck on the cheek. You didn't even start to go out with him and he got a hot kiss,"

"What are you talking about?"

"This," Idate held up a picture of Sasuke and Sakura.

She was leaning into Sasuke's kiss with her hands clenching tightly to the front of his shirt. One of his hands was cupping her cheek and the other was at the back of her neck, pulling her closer to him. One of the corners of Sasuke's lips curved upwards; he was smiling. Her heart started to beat fast.

When Idate moved his finger slightly, she saw that he had a lot of copies in his hand.

Of that exact photo

"Where did you get that?"

"It doesn't matter where I got it," Idate threw the photos at her; she cried out in pain when the pictures hit her face. The wind pushed the many photos to a farther distance. He stepped closer to her and grinned madly. "Now, I'm here to collect my reward from the past two years,"

He stepped closer, that devilish grin on his face created an atmosphere of terror. Idate smiled when he saw the fear in her. "Don't make anything harder than it is,"

Sakura instantly lashed out her leg and kicked him hard in the stomach. Idate gasped and flew back. His back painfully hit the wall behind him and he fell to the ground.

Sakura looked at him, full of courage and power. That all disappeared when Idate jumped from the floor, stomped towards her. He brought his hand back and slapped her in the face.

"Goddamn you," He brought his hand back once more to slap her.

Sakura tightly closed her eyes, waiting for the hit.

A delicate hand grabbed Idate's wrist. "Hey, what do you think you're doing?" The voice was heavily accented.

Sakura opened her eyes to see Karin standing there with an furious look on her face. "Leave Sah-KOO-Rah alone!" With amazing strength, she pulled Idate away and glared at his friends. "If you hurt her, I'll-"

"American whore! Let go of my boyfriend," Ami appeared out of nowhere, the wrath on her face was obvious. Ami's face darkened when she noticed that the American Japanese girl was going to protect Sakura. She cursed.

She was ruining her PERFECT plan.

"Ami," Sakura said softly.

Idate's friends let go of Sakura's arms and backed away slowly. They could see the fury on Ami's face and the deadly glint in Karin's eyes. The glint she had in her eyes that reminded everyone there that women were far more bloodthirsty than men.

A war was going to break out.

"You," Ami spat. She walked up to Karin and shoved her finger in her face with accusation. "How dare you touch my boyfriend!" Idate stood behind Ami with a smug look on his face.

"Ami-" Sakura started to defend Karin.

"Shut up, bitch!" Ami hissed.

"Don't call her a bitch, you slut!" Karin stood in front of Sakura so Ami was forced to deal with her. "You're suppose to fighting with me, not Sah-KOO-Rah!"

Ami laughed cruelly, along with Idate and his friends.

"She can't even speak Japanese good!"

"What a dumbass,"

"You can expect that from an American slut,"

Karin's face twisted with indefinable fury. She stepped up to one of Idate's friends who made the last comment. Her arm shot out and a loud noise echoed through the hallway.

He dropped to his knees and howled as he held his nose. Blood began to rush between his fingers. "The fucking bitch broke my nose!" The other two goons quickly went to his side. Idate stared at Karin with shock as Ami stood there, the confidence smirk wiped off her face.

"You see, I can do that to your face like that," Karin snapped her fingers as she leered at Ami evilly. "And I didn't even break a sweat, breaking his nose," She laughed, her voice beautiful as it rang down the hall. "Once you start a fight with Karin, you just signed a contract with the devil,"

Ami glared at Karin. "Stay away from my boyfriend!"

"What you scared of a foreign student grabbing at your boyfriend?" Karin raked her eyes at Idate, who smiled seductively behind Ami. "I have fresh meat like him everyday before school," She flipped her hair over her shoulder.

The expression on Idate's face said that he wouldn't mind being the fresh meat.

"And besides, I don't like little boys," Karin threw at his face.

Ami's shriek of rage made Sakura smile slightly.

The atmosphere suddenly went dark. Sakura felt a shiver run up her spine as she turned around to look down the hallway. She could feel his presence like a tangible touch. There she saw her savior—

Sasuke

She saw relief in his eyes a second before it was replaced with anger.

Sasuke stood there, relief filled his body when he saw that Sakura was still on school grounds. Anger flowed through his veins when he saw Idate and Ami.

Worse of all—Karin

When he took a step towards them, but suddenly stopped when he felt something crumple underneath his shoe. He looked down and bent down to pick up the picture. He stared at the picture for a long time before lifting his eyes to Idate.

His gaze was severe and cutting with its intensity.

Everybody flinched from his gaze.

Everybody except Sakura

Idate cursed when he felt the deadly gaze on him. He had a demeanor that said he relished cruelty and he was here for blood. Idate couldn't help but visibly tremble. Ami flinched away and hid behind Idate and his friends. He cursed. He was in this mess now because of her. Idate needed to do something—

Fast

When Karin saw Sasuke picked up the paper on the ground, she noticed that there were multiple pieces of paper on the ground. All of them were copies. She bent down to pick them up and took a good look at it.

She stared at the picture with wide eyes.

This picture would make _him _happy.

Because it was the confirmation she needed.

Quickly and discreetly, Karin slipped the picture in her pocket.

Sakura was about to approach Sasuke, when Idate shoved past her with his goons trailing behind him. "Idate, don't do this," She warned.

"What?" He threw over his shoulder as he sized Sasuke up. "You don't want me to hurt your _bitch_?" Idate smirked as he leaned towards the Japanese American student. "So, do you and the slut have a good time fucking each other's brains out?"

"Idate-" Sakura warned again. She knew what Sasuke was capable of. And Idate wouldn't last five seconds.

"Shut up, whore!" Idate smirked when he noticed nothing changed in Sasuke's face. No expression or emotion flickered in his eyes or was shown on his face. Idate laughed along with his friends. "Looks like Japanese American retard doesn't have anything to say," He was ready to battle with the devil himself if he had to.

Everything was getting out of hand.

"Step away from me," His deep commanding voice shivered down Ami's spine. This man was no joke.

Idate's smirk froze on his face. Fear was rushing through his mind. But because of his pride and his reputation, he stepped closer to Sasuke. "What are you going to do? Hit me?"

Karin could sense the rage that was swelling inside of Sasuke. Luckily, he was holding it back

Sasuke just stood there. He narrowed his eyes when Idate lifted his hand and poked him in the shoulder hard. He wanted to kill this—boy. His eyes shifted from his face to see Sakura over his shoulder. Her hands were twisting at each other in worry and concern. He looked at her face to see that there was a red mark.

He shifted his eyes back to Idate and knew what happened.

He had slapped her.

Instead of beating Idate to a pulp, like he had wanted to, Sasuke sidestepped around the pack of wannabe thugs and walked towards Sakura.

"Idate, leave him alone!" Sakura yelled.

As Sasuke moved past them, Idate shoved at him. Sasuke's reaction was swift and violent. He slammed his fist straight into Idate's face. Idate hit the ground hard as his friends jumped Sasuke.

Sakura gasped and was afraid they would hurt Sasuke, which she knew was impossible. But he was cutting through them with little difficulty. He slung one over his back onto the ground, and then punched him hard while the other two were swinging at him.

Ducked the blows and whirled to the side. He slammed one of Idate's friends into the wall and would have pinned him had Idate had not grabbed him from behind.

Idate punched Sasuke hard in the face.

Sakura yelped in terror and tried to go to Sasuke. But a clasp on her arm held her back. She turned to see Karin grabbing her arm, her eyes concentrated on the fight.

"Don't worry, he won't be hurt,"

She looked away from Karin and nodded. Sakura knew he could take care of himself, but she couldn't help but worry about him.

"Oh, god! Idate look out, baby! Oh, duck!" Ami screamed as she tried to help her boy toy.

The force of the blow knocked Idate down where he lay beside his friend with his nose pouring blood. He cursed as he curled up in a ball. His bones and flesh were screaming in pain. As Sasuke walked past him, Idate spat at his feet. "Damn you, you monster,"

Before Sasuke could deliver more pain, Sakura jumped away from Karin's grasp and grabbed onto Sasuke's arm. "Let's go, he's not worth it,"

He sighed in aggravation and nodded. "Let's go to class,"

Ami ran past them to comfort Idate.

As Sakura and Sasuke walked towards class, Sakura turned around. "Karin?" She looked from the group on the floor to the empty area around them.

Karin wasn't there.

"She probably went to class," Sasuke shrugged as he pulled her to the school building. He clenched his free fist in pain as he felt his wound from three days ago screaming in agony. He ignored it the best he could and went inside of the school, with Sakura by his side.

Little did they know that she was hiding behind one of the corners of the buildings. Karin had the picture crumpled in her hand, her fist trembling with agony and anger. Tears streaking down her face, full of betrayal.

"The woman is the death of you," She whispered brokenheartedly.

When she had seen that picture, her love for Sasuke died.

Her soul along with it

"_**Love can sometimes be magic. But magic can sometimes just be an illusion"**_


	12. Colors of the Heart

**Chapter 12: Colors of the Heart**

"_**Not all scar show, not all wounds heal. Sometimes you can't always see the pain someone else feels"**_

Sakura paced around the living room as she fixed her hair nervously. She was anxious to hear the door bell ring any minute now. Any minute now. She continued to walk around the living room, hoping that her exciting nerves and fast heartbeat will calm down by now.

After school, Sasuke told Sakura that he was going to take her out on a special day.

And she had no idea why.

As she pondered over this thought, she jumped and gasped when she heard the doorbell ring. She practically streaked across the room and wrenched the door open.

There stood Sasuke.

He wore a gray tweed jacket on black knit sweater with white straight collar and sleeves rolled up at the elbows. His dark pants went perfect with the outfit. His hair was as usual, laid back and swayed whenever the wind was present.

Sakura fiddled with the doorknob nervously when she realized that Sasuke was staring at her with a dumbfound expression.

She wore a simple black dress that ended two inches below the knees. At the waist it tightened, showing off her curvy figure, and flared out slightly. Her dress was held by two thin teasing straps. In the front of the silky dress, it didn't have any fancy plunging design to show off her cleavage. It merely traveled in a straight line from one side to the other.

She looked an ethereal angel.

He looked elegantly arrogant.

"Hi," She said.

His face broke into a smile and her heart nearly lurched up her throat.

"Are you ready?" He asked.

She nodded, blushed, grabbed a cloak and closed the door.

They entered his vehicle and drove through the streets silently. Sasuke turned on the radio to fill up the silence and smiled to himself as he stole a few glances at Sakura. He couldn't believe he was smiling, calm, driving inside of a car with a girl he thought a whole bunch for.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and his smile disappeared.

Part of him wanted to curse her and the mushy, unwanted feelings he has. He wanted to tell her she was nothing to him, he didn't need her smiles, her laughter, her anything in order to live. But the other part of him wanted to only hold her forever in his embrace, silently soothing away both her and his unfair lives.

The car stopped in front of a restaurant.

Sakura gaped at the five star restaurant: The Oracle.

"Are you serious?" She gaped at him. "We're eating here?"

Sasuke smirked. He reached over and closed her mouth. Sakura blushed furiously; her blush was endearing. "Yes," He replied. He walked out of his car and stood in front of the restaurant, waiting for her.

"Are you serious?" She repeated again. "I can't believe this," Her smoky green eyes twinkled with amazement and wonder. "How did you get to eat in a place like this?"

"I reserved it yesterday," Sasuke smiled as they walked inside. It was even more beautiful. The ceilings held millions of beautiful crystal chandeliers. There were many tables, waiters and waitresses. There was a fountain in the middle of the restaurant, a gentle rushing of water was heard. People laughed and chattered with rich and formal vocabulary, making Sakura a bit uncomfortable.

_A BIT _

"How did you reserve this place? My step father couldn't get a reservation immediately. The only one that was available was in eight to ten months." She sat on a table, which the waiter led them to.

Sasuke chuckled, bringing a glass of wine to his lips. "I have my connections,"

She warily looked at him. "They better be good connections,"

He smirked. "Let's eat and then walk in the park,"

"At night?" Sakura inquired.

"It's even better,"

"_**Every saint has a past, every sinner has a future"**_

They were walking under the moonlight, slowly strolling around the park. None of them talked, it wasn't necessary. The two souls together were enough for both of them. Sakura squeezed his hand, their hands linking each other.

Sasuke sighed and looked at Sakura. "Sakura, I..." He started.

Sakura stopped walking, both of them ended up under a tree, clear of curious wanderers, bystanders. "Yes?" She said, raising her beautiful green eyes to his face.

"I think we should stop seeing each other," Sasuke didn't hesitate.

It hit her like a ton of bricks. Her heart began to weigh down heavily. "It's really pathetic how I try to keep something that keeps moving away," Tears began to cascade down her cheeks.

_I'd rather be deaf than hear you cry, _

"Sakura," Sasuke reached for her, trying to give her comfort in any way, but she pushed him away and tripped from her heels.

_Blind before I see you hurt,_

She quickly recovered from her fall. "Why do you keep doing this?" Sakura wiped off her tears. "You act as if someone is going to sweep me off of my feet and keep me as a hostage! And then you push me away as if to protect me!"

_Dead before I see you taken away from me-_

"You keep pushing me away, but keep reeling me back with you! What do you want? I'm not going to die if I'm with you." Sakura's lip quivered. "The hardest thing I'll ever have to do is turn around and walk away as if I don't know you," Her voice cracked and she buried her face in her hands.

Sasuke stood there, staring at the girl in front of him cry. He clenched his fist and turned away from her. Was he willing to be with her and then have her killed? Was he willing to make that sacrifice?

Was _she_ willing to make that sacrifice?

Trembling arms wounded around his waist, holding him tightly. "I don't care about anything. I want to be w-with...you,"

His hands trailed up and down her arms. "Are you willing to do this..."

"I learned a long time ago that love is inevitable," Sakura squeezed his waist, comforting him. "I want to be with you...stay with me,"

Sasuke squeezed his eyes shut tightly, tilting his head up to stare at the midnight sky. He took in a deep breath and curled his lip. He wanted to be with her.

He _needed_ to be with her.

"I want you," Sasuke loosened her arms from his waist and turned to meet her teary gaze. He bent his head and lightly skimmed his lips across hers. "I want to be with you,"

"I want to be with you, too," Sakura said against his lips.

"But my past-"

"It doesn't matter," She interrupted. "I accept everything from you, including your life," She tiptoed and wrapped her arms around his neck. " Sasuke, if you are a murderer then so be it, but I love you and I want to be with you, willingly," She landed a soft kiss on his mouth.

His arms tightened around her small body. "And I want to be with you, too," He kissed at her lips hungrily. "And no matter what, I promise to protect you,"

His promises are meant to be empty lonely roads.

"Here," Sasuke slipped something, a black velvet box, from his pocket. "Happy Birthday, Sakura," He opened the box and watched as her eyes widened.

There was a golden bracelet in the box. It was a chain, ending with a small ball at the end. Sakura leaned forward and took a closer look at the jewelry. The ball ended up being an elegant bell, with a dragon-like claw gripping at it possessively. Everything was made out of gold.

She gazed up at Sasuke, who was fidgeting under her stare. "Is this for me?"

He nodded quickly and took it out of the box. "I had this especially made for you," Sasuke grabbed one of her wrist and clasped the bracelet on.

Sakura stared down at the bracelet, fingering at it. "How did you know it was my birthday?"

He shrugged and smiled down at her crookedly. She felt like her knees were going to melt. "A birdy told me,"

"Thank you," Sakura rose up on her toes and gave him another kiss.

They pulled away from each other, walked away from the park and went back into the car.

If someone told Sasuke that he was going to be attracted to an innocent, pure, happy girl, he would've ignored them. If someone told him that he was going to fall in love with her, he would've killed them and laughed mockingly in their face. He looked at Sakura, the corner of his lips lifting up ever so slightly.

He BlackDragon—had fallen in love.

"I'll always be there with you," He said, his voice light and promising.

Sakura turned to Sasuke with a questioning face. He had reached across and grabbed her hand, intertwining their fingers together. He didn't look at her, but kept his eyes on the road with a small smile playing at his lips.

"Forever and ever?" She squeezed his hand, caressing it with her thumb.

She grinned and looked away from him.

"Hand in hand," He replied lovingly.

She, a hopeless girl—had fallen in love.

And neither the angels in heaven above,

Nor the demons down under the sea,

Can ever dissever my soul from the soul

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee

"_**But we loved with a love that was more than love-"**_


	13. The Promise Land

**Chapter 13: The Promise Land**

"_**The world's a lot darker when you think you're alone"**_

"Don't you dare do that," Sakura glared at Sasuke, hoping that he wouldn't pounce upon her. "If you do that, then I will personally-"

Sasuke growled and jumped on her. Both of them landed on her bed, Aristotle barking excitingly as the pair wrestled around. Sasuke nipped at her neck, bringing out a squeal of laughter from Sakura. She tried to push him off of her, only he had other plans. Sasuke pinned her arms at her side and grinned down at her. "What will Sakura do now?"

She narrowed her eyes, trying to muster some evil eyes to ward off Sasuke. "I will never give you another kiss-"

He dipped his head down and laughed. "I just got one,"

"Sasuke!" Sakura laughed so hard that tears were threatening to come out. But he didn't stop.

Suddenly, her savior came.

Sasuke stilled his movements and his eyes were pinned on Sakura's cell phone. It was flashing lights and vibrating desperately. "That call is probably unimportant," Sasuke smirked down at her. "No one's here to save you,"

"I need to answer my phone," Sakura struggled to sit up. "I'll wrestle with you as soon as I finish,"

"Promise?" Sasuke nuzzled her neck and she laughed aloud again.

"I promise!"

Sakura unwound herself from his grip and tried to reach for her phone; but Sasuke wouldn't have it. He reached over and gave it to her. He then rolled over so that Sakura was laying upon him. He cherished these moments, knowing they will soon come to an end. Sakura was still laughing when she answered the phone. "Hello?" She laid a hand on Sasuke's face, caressing his face tenderly, a soft smile playing on her face.

There was a brief silence. "Sakura, this is your step-father,"

Her smile disappeared and she rolled off of Sasuke, quickly sitting up on her bed. Her knuckles turned white as she gripped onto her cellphone with a tight grip. "What's wrong?" Her step father never called her unless it was something important; and she knew it was something very deadly.

Her life line snapped-

"You're mother is dead. She was driving in the car with a chauffeur when he lost control of the car. They hit five more other cars, but they were all empty. He was drunk when he was trying to drive her to—"

"When did this happen?" Sakura interrupted, tears brimming in her eyes.

"Yesterday," He replied monotonously.

"Why didn't you call me yesterday?" Anger was seething through her words.

"Well, I'm calling you right now. The funeral is on Sunday, near the cemetery next to the church—"

"Thank you for the call, it was quite convenient of you," She sneered. That bastard didn't even call her on the day of her mother's death.

"I don't need your sarcasm," Her stepfather snapped. "I spoke to Ami yesterday. She'll be preparing the church mass and the funeral services for your mother."

Sakura stared at the phone in her hands and sneered at it. Of course he would call Ami; she was _his _precious daughter. She hung up the phone and stared at it with rage. She screamed in anger and threw her phone against the wall.

Aristotle whined and ran out of the room.

Sasuke was by her side. "What's wrong?"

Sakura didn't answer him. She placed her head in her hands and started to weep piteously. Such raw sobs echoed in the room with power. Sasuke wrapped his arms around her, slowly rubbing her back in circular motions. Her eyes throbbed with pain as her whole body racked with each sob she released.

Her mother was gone, within a blink of an eye.

She gasped for breath, her cries choking her, making her want to join her mother in the afterlife. "She's...dead..." Sakura's voice cracked, her fingers clutching at Sasuke's shirt. "My mother...she's dead..."

He continued to rub her back comfortingly. He didn't know what it was like to lose someone important to him. He only knew the feeling of someone threatening to take the one person he loves. He will not try to comfort her with false feelings.

Here came her other savior-

From Hell

"Well, well, look what we found, Idate,"

Sakura lifted her face from the crook of Sasuke's neck and saw the two people she hated the most:

Ami and Idate

"It looks like the slut is mourning with her body," Idate sneered.

"Doesn't she always?" Ami raked her eyes at the couple with disgust. She closed her eyes then sighed mockingly. "It's not as if she can help it. Sakura, hurry up and get your stuff out of the house," With those cruel words, Ami grabbed Idate's wrist and lead him to her room full of sins.

A cold tremor went through Sakura. "What?" Her head shot from her head. She jumped off from her bed and ran to her door. "What do you mean get my stuff out? This is my house! I live here!" Ami and Idate stopped walking.

"You mean this is _my _house," Ami laughed, her hands at her hips. "The last time I remembered, it was you and your skanky mom that entered my household to live in it. You moved out of that pathetic thing you called a house and started living under this roof: my house,"

"But...you—I—she...you can't do that!" Sakura screamed in frustration.

"Yes, I can," Ami looked at her wrist as if she was gazing down a watch. "And if I wasn't mistaken, you turned eighteen yesterday. So, basically, you're an adult. You're old enough to live by yourself," Ami entered her room and closed it without another word.

Sakura stood there, burning holes into her stepsister's room with angry eyes. How dare that evil witch do this to her? She had just lost her mother! She wiped away the angry tears and turned around to walk inside her room. Instead she walked into a wall.

"Sasuke?"

He stood there, staring down at her with troubled eyes. "You're getting kicked out of your...house?"

"No, no, it's just a misunderstanding!" Sakura smiled something so fake that Sasuke cringed; she waved her hands around as if she was okay. "Everything will be fixed."

"Are you sure?"

Sakura wanted to kill Ami. Couldn't she just have kept her mouth shut until later? What was wrong with her? What was with the obsession to embarrass her in front of everybody? "I'm fine,"

Sasuke grasped Sakura's hands in his. "You're lying," He glared at her with fierce eyes. "You're not okay,"

"Yes, I am," Sakura growled and yanked her hands from his grip.

"You're mother just passed away and you're okay?" He grabbed her by her arms. "I don't believe any of that bull,"

"I'm fine," She growled and pushed him away. Sakura turned around to exit her room, but Sasuke grabbed tightly to her arms. He then pulled her to a crushing embrace.

"You're not fine," He mumbled in her hair, rubbing her back in comforting circles.

Slowly, her arms wrapped around his body and her face leaned against his chest. "She's dead,"

"I know,"

"And my stepfather is kicking me out of the house," Sakura choked back a sob, her fists gripping tighter to the back of Sasuke's shirt. "Yesterday, I turned eighteen. They're going to disown me, remove the family name and throw me in the streets..._legally._"

"Then live with me," He shot out.

"What?" Sakura pulled away from him, an incredulous expression on her face. "What did you say?"

Sasuke bent his head down, his lips brushing against her ear, bringing out a shiver from Sakura. "Live with me,"

"No," She pulled away from his arms, the cold air enveloped her immediately. "I cannot do that to you."

"And why not?" Sasuke growled. His hand brushed through his obsidian hair. "We are-"

"We're a couple," Sakura cut in. "But this is too big. I cannot burden you with-"

"I want you to be with me. You're not burdening anyone!" Sasuke made a grab for her but she dodged it. "Sakura, you're overreacting!"

"Overreacting?" Sakura glared at Sasuke. "No, I'm not overreacting. This is big! It's grand!" She held her hands to her face and her eyes narrowed even more. "I cannot keep depending on you whenever I'm in trouble! I've been realizing that! Whenever I'm getting beat up by strangers or by my own—family, you're always there, helping me," Sakura's knees when weak and she collapsed.

Sasuke approached her and bent down.

"I…I c-cant keep re-relying on…you," Sakura sniffled when Sasuke cradled her face in his palms.

"I want you to be with me. I want you to ask for my help whenever you need it," Sasuke's lips skimmed to the corner of her lips. He kissed each corner softly. His lips finally came to a stop upon hers. "I'll always be there with you—for you," He whispered against her lips.

Sakura's stormy eyes opened and her heart swelled as she heard Sasuke repeat the words from last night. "Forever and ever?" She whispered against his lips.

Sasuke applied pressure to her lips. "Hand in hand,"

"_**When one door of happiness closes, another opens"**_

The sky was angry, the clouds dark with rage and hatred. The rain didn't fall, didn't shed and didn't embrace the Mother Earth. There were no euphoric sounds heard from the animals, no music from the insects and no wind of comfort.

The distorted family stood in front of a tombstone.

Ami huffed and rummaged through her purse for a mirror. She then looked in it and delicately fixed the lip gloss on her lips. Her father narrowed his eyes at her behavior but didn't say anything to stop her actions. Idate was at Ami's right, leaning forward and backward on his shoes, the boredom evident on his face.

Sasuke looked away from them in disgust. The distance between the ravenous leeches and Sasuke was bearable. But it was their actions that wanted to make him kill them.

He turned away from them and looked at Sakura. The still, pale image of Sakura's face rippled and blurred Sasuke's eyes and it seemed that an unbearable sorrow hovered over her. His hand rose and gently rubbed circles on her back, comforting her agony.

It only made it worse.

Sakura wanted to shove everyone away and mourn for her mother in private. But she knew it wasn't going to happen. Her step father would throw criticisms at her, and her ex-lover and step sister would laugh at her. But it was Sasuke who would ignore her order, because he will always be there with her.

_Forever and ever_

_Hand in hand_

Sakura approached the tombstone, her fingers gliding upon the rough cement lovingly. She bent down and kissed it, leaned her forehead on the hard tombstone. "I love you, mom," She then stood and walked to Sasuke. "Let's go,"

Sasuke nodded and grabbed her hand. He squeezed it and walked past the _distraught _family.

"Finally that weed is out of my hands," Sakura's step father grunted.

"I know," Ami agreed as she watched the couple disappear into the car. "But something about them worries me,"

"It's nothing. They can't do anything." Sakura's step father, Murata, laughed at the thought of it.

"Your father's right. They're nothing but trash," Idate joined.

"Right," Ami applied more makeup to her face. "Finally we have our house back, dad."

"Did she take everything out?" Murata turned around and began to walk to his car. The two teens following him from behind.

Ami nodded. "Even the dog,"

"That pest," Idate's lip curled. "I hate that dog,"

"Me, too," Ami wound her arm around Idate's, her hand groping his behind. He jumped in shock, his eyes pinned on her father, making sure to jump away from her if he turned around.

"Let's go home," Murata entered the car.

"And celebrate," Ami added, squeezing Idate's buttocks suggestively.

_**"The mystery of love is greater than the mystery of death."**_


	14. Too Bad you're Beautiful

**Chapter 14: Too Bad you're Beautiful**

"_**It is such a secret place, the land of tears"**_

Sakura had spent the day with her friends, eating ice cream and shopping around the stores. After her mother's funereal, she had moved her belongings to Sasuke's house. It had been a bit awkward at first, regarding the situation and deaths that has occurred. But it was bearable. Sakura glanced at a nearby restaurant and squealed. "Why don't we eat there?"

"Okay," Tenten clapped her hands and then ran first. "I'll race you there Hinata!"

"Okay, but the percentage of you winning might be 73% considering my lack of muscle!" Hinata giggled as Tenten stuck her tongue out.

As Sakura was going to go inside, Ino grabbed her wrist.

"What's this?" She questioned and looked at the bracelet wrapped around Sakura's wrist.

"It's a bracelet Sasuke gave for my birthday," Sakura blushed furiously as she had confessed. The look on Ino's face was unbelievable. Her expression was full of envy.

"Can I try it on?" She put her puppy eyes.

Sakura hesitated, her fingers touching the clasp of the bracelet. She then looked down at it, smiling softly when she remembered the night Sasuke gave it to her. "Okay, but you have to give it back," Sakura said.

As soon as it was on Ino's wrist, she began to squeal in happiness and joy. "It's so beautiful!" Ino began to coo and giggle whenever the sun ray's caught the bracelet. For the next few minutes, Sakura was getting agitated. She was hungry and she was getting a tad bit jealous when Ino began to finger at the bracelet.

"Can I have it back?" Sakura held her hand out.

"I just wanted to try it on," Ino said grudgingly.

Sakura sighed and threaded her hand through her pink hair. The summer white dress she was wearing fluttered around her from the wind. "I'm sorry, but that bracelet is very important to me. Can I have it back?" Sakura held out her hand.

"Why?" Ino whined. She clutched her hand to her chest. "I want to wear it a little longer."

"It's not yours," Sakura growled out. "Give me that bracelet."

"I can't believe he gave it to you," She said with venom stringing in and out of her words. "You're just some mutt," She grumbled under her breath.

Sakura pulled back when she heard those words.

Mutt

Dog

Worse than dirt

It was only something a true dog would hurl at her face.

"What…" Sakura words trailed off as she looked at her best friend with hurt eyes. "What did you-"

"Just shut up," Ino snapped as she sliced a glare at Sakura. "You're so, so fake!" She stabbed a finger at Sakura. "You're always whining and complaining about the things you have! You don't have any idea how much I would like to-to throw you to the wall every time you whine!"

Sakura stared at Ino with her wide eyes. "What are you talking about? When I complain, it's because I'm hurting-"

"How are you hurting when you were dating the hottest guy in the school?" Ino took a step forward with aggressiveness. "How are you hurting when your step-father is a rich lawyer and your mother was a high nurse? How are you hurting when your step-sister is pretty and smart? How are you hurting when all the guys in the school lust over you?" She then scratched her perm hair hard with frustration. "I don't get it! You're such a spoiled brat!"

Sakura stood there stupidly, staring at her childhood friend.

She was…spoiled?

Spoiled with a step-father who saw nothing in her?

Spoiled with a lover who cheated on her?

Spoiled with a mother who was dead?

Spoiled with a step-sister who stole her happiness?

"You don't know what I'm going through," Sakura whispered brokenly. She took in a deep breath and gazed at Ino with new eyes. "I'm not spoiled-"

"Even the hot transfer student is after you!" Ino interrupted viciously. She glared at Sakura and clenched her fists. "I can't believe you have everything I want and you still complain like a whiny bitch,"

"Hey, don't you say that," Sakura had enough of this. Ino didn't know how much she was suffering. She had no right to say those things to her. "You don't know how much I suffer in a house that doesn't have the warmth your mother actually provides you,"

"Stop it," Ino growled.

"No! Your mom always gives you money for lunch, food to eat and she's always there for you. Yet you throw away her warmth as if it doesn't mean anything to you!" Sakura took a step forward, feeling her anger and energy rushing through her veins. "I would do anything, anything to get that kind of love again," Sakura felt the tears prickling. "But now…I can't…because she's dead,"

They were quiet, staring at each other with new eyes.

They were no longer the friends they thought they were.

They were less than friends.

And less than companions

"SCCCREEEECCCHHHHHHH!"

A white van skidded around a corner and stopped next to the two girls. Suddenly, three men jumped out of the vehicle and stalked toward them with danger.

The girls didn't notice the men, and continued to gaze at each other. Ino finally bowed her head low and sighed. Ino rolled her eyes and fiddled with the bracelet and handed it to Sakura. "I'll give you the damn thing, you mu-"

One of the men grabbed Ino by the arms and pulled them roughly behind her. Another one grabbed her legs as the other one tried to hold a handkerchief to her face.

Ino thrashed around, kicking and screaming at the top of her lungs catching the attention of bystanders. "LET ME GO!" She roared and managed to kick the one who was holding her arms in the face. "LET ME GO! SAKURA!"

"Ino!" Sakura immediately went into action. Even if they did have a heated argument, Sakura saw the childhood friend she's had all these years, being kidnapped by the monsters.

She attacked the one who was holding her legs. "Let go of Ino!" She punched the man in the face who staggered back. Ino managed to throw off the one holding her arms and kick the one with the handkerchief in his manhood.

"Sakura!" Ino cried out as she tripped over a cracked pavement.

"Ino!" Sakura went back and helped her up as they ran for it.

"She's not the girl! It's the other one!"

"The one in the dress! That's her!" One of them yelled.

"Get the one in the white dress!"

"She's the one! Not the other!"

Sakura had the air knock out of her when one man tackled her from behind. Her head cracked on the pavement as she watched Ino run away in fear. Not even bothering to turn around her head once to check on Sakura.

_Sakura, you fool…_

The image of Ino running away dimmed into blackness as Sakura was carried inside of the white van.

"_**Betrayal is what makes the truth sticks"**_

Her eyes fluttering open, Sakura groaned as she moved her hand to massage her sore neck. Sakura winced as she felt dry blood caked around her temple; it must've happened when she hit her head on the cement. Slowly, she sat up, feeling the creaks of her bones. Rubbing her eyes from the grogginess, Sakura looked around to find herself in a place of pure horror.

A cold freezing fog surrounded the ground of the freezer she was inside. Every exposed bit of her skin burned and sent shivers down her spine. All around her were bodies of slaughtered cows, swaying from the metal hooks. The hair on the back of her neck rose as the base of the metal hooks gave off a metallic screech with each tempo the bodies lightly swung back and forth. The room she was contained in was made of metal walls, and no door can be found.

"Hello?" Sakura called out.

There was no answer.

The only sounds she could hear were the humming of the room and the groans from the metal hooks.

Ignoring at how stiff her bones were, Sakura forced herself to rise from her current position. As she stood she noticed how clammy and cold her hands were. The blue and red veins from her arms were practically shown through the thin layer of her skin. Shivering, she looked down at herself to see that there were ice particles sticking to her white summer dress and her bare skin. Soon enough, her teeth began to chatter involuntarily.

Forcing herself to get a grip, Sakura rubbed her hands together to get some heat. What little help it did for her. Crossing the room, she walked around trying to find a door yet she was careful to avoid the skinless cows. Sakura approached a wall and placed her hands on the walls, thinking that there might be some secret switch around to open a portal of some kind.

There was nothing.

20 minutes passed

Sakura winced as her fingers were becoming frozen popsicles by the passing moment. She put her fingers in her mouth for the little warmth it could provide. Continuing her search, she painfully and roughly put her finger through a crack on the wall, praying for hope.

Nothing was there.

She almost cried when she saw her fingers. The very tips of them were raw and bloody from scavenging around the area.

Suddenly, a loud moan coming from the opposite side of the room caught her attention.

Paralyzed with fear, Sakura could do nothing but watch across the room with eyes full of panic.

The moan became louder and louder until Sakura covered her ears with her hands and collapsed on the floor. "Stop! Stop it! Leave me alone!" She screamed out in a shrill tone.

She pressed her palms on her ears but strangely, the moan became louder, a haunting voice, drumming in her ears. Wide frightened stormy orbs desperately glanced around the area; too frighten to close her eyes. She rapidly began to crawl backwards towards the corner of the room, jerking her eyes from left to right as though she was delusional.

She curled up in a ball and shrieked out her lungs till they were hoarse.

Another 20 minutes passed by

Once the moan seemed to dim down, Sakura opened her eyes tentatively, hoping that nothing was there to eat her—kill her. As soon as she felt safe, she removed her hands from her ears and looked around. There was nothing there. Slowly, she got up and wandered around, her heart constricted in terror.

When she passed by a few slaughtered cows, she noticed something peculiar about one of the walls. Sakura approached it to see that there was a stream of light coming out of a crack from the wall.

Desperate for freedom, Sakura ran towards the wall, and clawed at the stream of light, not even wincing once as her raw bloody fingers screamed in pain. She continued to scrabble at the wall, oblivious to the bloody mess she was creating.

All of a sudden, the wall pushed inwards and opened up to reveal a different room.

Quickly, she escaped from the hell hole she was in and moaned as the warmth of the room encircled her. Sakura turned around to see a door to her right. She walked awkwardly towards the door and hesitated to turn the knob.

What if something behind the door was much worse than what she had faced?

What if she dies?

What if—

All her thought stopped as she turned the knob.

"Finally, you've come,"

Two pair of hands clasped onto her forearms before she entered the office. She struggled but she was too weak to escape. There was a chill in the air; a haunting aura spiced it up. There was a man standing in the center of the room. Other men were also there: some of them dressed in gangster clothes and other dressed up nicely as if they were in a business meeting. On the walls of the office were pictures of men with pigs and awards of excellence.

There were many pictures with the same man in all of the frames.

And dead animals

She was in a butcher factory.

"So, what took you so long?" The man didn't look at her as he gazed out of the window. There was nothing but an empty road outside.

"W-what?" Sakura stuttered.

He grunted and didn't speak again.

Sakura looked around, confused as ever. What was she doing here in a place like this? She glances at the men who were holding onto her arm to see that they were grumpy and dangerous looking. Sakura turned back to the "leader".

"Who are you? And what do you want with me?" Her voice held a tone of panic.

The man chuckled and turned around slowly.

There was a dangerous aura in the air as soon as they eyes met

"My name," He chuckled. He wore a black turtleneck, charcoal sweater, and black slacks. His long black hair was loose around his shoulder, reaching the middle of his back. There was a scar that ran from the right side of the temple to his jaw. It was thick, ridged and scaly. "My name is Orochimaru," His piercing yellow eyes made her tremble.

Sakura looked at the man called Orochimaru and then to the two men who were holding her arms in paranoia. "What do you want with me?"

Orochimaru smirked, causing Sakura to flinch harshly. There was something ominous about this man.

Deadly.

"You really have no idea what you mean to both me," He came across the room with a slow, methodical walk—like a predator taking its time getting the lay of the landscape while it patiently watched its prey. "And Sasuke," He stood in front of her.

Sakura was puzzled. "Sasuke?"

At the boom of his laughter, Sakura gasped and took a step back. But his men prevented her from stepping back any further.

"Yes, Sasuke, the leader of BlackDragon,"

"What?" Sakura was still confused.

Orochimaru waved his hand to his men. They released her arms and stood back in the shadows of the warehouse. Sakura immediately rubbed up and down at her arms. She could feel the bruises coming.

"But," Orochimaru approached Sakura, circling around her like a vulture ready to eat its prey. "I keep wondering, why he would even bother himself with someone like you," He softly grabbed a tendril of her hair and wrapped it around his finger. "Why would he want someone so fragile, so weak?"

Angered, Sakura smacked his hand away. She ignored the intake of breaths around her and glared at Orochimaru. "Whatever is between Sasuke and I has nothing to do with you. You have no right to put yourself in our business."

He looked at her for a long time and didn't say anything. "Hn," He smirked and slapped her hard in the face.

Sakura dropped to the ground like a rock. Her hand reached up and cupped her face feeling the numbness of the slap. She narrowed her eyes at him and stood back up slowly. Her chin rose ever so slightly.

"What did he see in you?" Orochimaru stepped back and gave her body a look over. "You have nice legs, and a nice bust, but still…" He grinned once more and pointed over to the side. "What do you have that she doesn't?"

Sakura turned her eyes away from his to see someone lounging on the chair of the desk.

Karin

Her eyes widened with surprise. "K-Karin," She stared at Karin who was sitting on the desk as if she owned the whole world. She wore a black miniskirt with a blood red spaghetti strap; heels that made her legs look longer and sexier. When she smirked evilly at Sakura, Sakura flinched.

"What's going on?" Sakura took a step back and looked around the room wildly.

"It seems as if our princess here doesn't understand a thing we're saying." Orochimaru sighed and turned to Karin. "Whatever should we do?"

"Kill her," Karin spat out.

"What?" Sakura was taken by surprise. "Kill me? But why? Karin, I thought we were-" She was cut off.

"We were nothing."

"But, at school…you saved me from-"

Karin threw back her head and laughed. "I saved you from those pigs at school, yes, that is true. But the only reason is because I didn't want them to hurt you. I want to do that deed myself," She smirked.

Karin stood from the chair and swayed towards them. She raked her eyes over Orochimaru seductively before pinpointing Sakura with those wicked red eyes. "I've always wanted to gorge your eyes out with this knife since I've met you," She pulled out a knife from her skirt, her eyes glittering maliciously. "Too bad you're beautiful, because I will slice up your face so you look exactly like those pigs in the freezer."

"Why?" Sakura gasped out.

"Hm," She purred as she placed her hand on Orochimaru's shoulder. His eyes were dark with lust. Sakura was disgusted when his hand trailed up Karin's skirt. Karin moaned in raw pleasure, oblivious to the people in the room.

"You stole the very heart of my soul," Karin said when Orochimaru removed his hand from her. "But now the heart of my soul will slaughter you,"

Orochimaru laughed as he nuzzled her neck. "I'll give you the pleasure, my darling,"

"You always do,"

While the two lovers were busy, Sakura looked around the room, studying any escape plans she could use to run.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Orochimaru pulled away from Karin. "If you dare to escape," He didn't finish his sentence. The gun he pulled out from his pocket finished it for him.

Finally, all the puzzle pieces connected together.

Whatever this man wanted, he was serious.

"Now, back to our previous subject," Orochimaru dark eyes sharpened seriously.

"What do you want from him?" Sakura asked.

"I want him dead. The only way he will die is when we put his very weakness against him. And God knows that he will do nothing to hurt it."

"He has nothing he cares about!" Sakura couldn't take it anymore. Everything was going in circles and confusing her. She didn't know exactly how serious these men were. She didn't know who Orochimaru was. She was getting crazy.

"I want you to kill him," Orochimaru said emotionlessly.

Sakura's face went white. They wanted her to kill Sasuke. Orochimaru was right; Sakura was the only thing Sasuke cared about and she couldn't deny it. And she knew deep in her heart that he will do nothing to hurt her. She looked down at the golden bracelet he gave her. He would do nothing to hurt her.

The very thought of it made her ache inside.

"You want us to show you how serious we are?" Orochimaru asked when he didn't see a reaction coming from her.

"What?"

He didn't respond. With a flick of his finger, Orochimaru's men brought someone out to the floor.

Sakura gasped with shock when she saw the man look up at Orochimaru with terror written all over his face. She whipped her head to the pictures on the wall to see the same face. He was the owner of the slaughter house.

"Please! Don't kill-" He didn't finish his sentence because one of the men who brought him in the room kicked him in the face.

Sakura shrieked when she saw blood gushing out of his nose. The man didn't stop kicking him.

"Stop! You're going to kill him!" Sakura pushed the man away.

"Why, you bitch!" He pulled back his hand to hit her.

"Don't hit her!" Karin hissed. Immediately the man stepped back. "She's mine to kill!"

Sakura bent over the owner of the slaughterhouse and checked his condition. He was barely awake due to his age. The old man probably couldn't stand now.

"Please, please don't let them hurt me," Blood trickled from the side of the old man's mouth.

"Now, Sakura, our precious angel," Orochimaru walked towards her and the old man, with the gun still clutched in his grasp. "Whatever shall we do to make you bend to our will?"

"I will never hurt Sasuke. I would rather _die _than hurt him," Sakura emphasized.

"Like this?" He snarled an instant before he pulled the trigger.

At the loud echoing sound of the gun shot, she couldn't breathe as she took in the sight of the old man lying dead in front of her. She stared in horror at the gore that spattered the front of her white dress. She opened her mouth and wailed as her face was full of terror. She crawled away from the body in fear.

Orochimaru sighed in frustration. "I'm bored already," He threw his gun to one of his men. Sighing in frustration, Orochimaru squatted down so that he was in eye-level with Sakura. "So what do you say?"

"What are you going to do with him?" Sakura sobbed as tears streamed down her face.

He laughed along with the other people in the room. Karin merely grinned cruelly from behind.

"The question isn't what I'm going to do to him. It's what I'm going to do to you if you don't do as I say." Orochimaru sneered as he held Sakura's chin. "Now, will you-"

Sakura shrieked when the door beside her slammed open.

"_**You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed"**_


	15. Time to say Goodbye

**Chapter 15: Time to say Goodbye**

"_**Sometimes, when one person is missing, the whole world seems depopulate"**_

"_Some big bulky guys grabbed her and ran,"_

"_I tried to help, but it was useless," _

"_Stop crying! It isn't your fault!" _

"_I tried to help-"_

"_They drove in a van and sped away," _

"_Sasuke! Someone took Sakura!"_

"_Ino, you didn't try, did you?"_

"…_I'm…sorry…"_

A car sped down the empty streets. If there were any cars, he'd dodged them. It whipped and lashed itself around like a true demon on the streets. When he reached a warehouse, he jumped out of the car and ran as if the devil was on his tail.

_To: BlackDragon_

_From: WhiteTiger_

_Mirror, Mirror on the wall_

_Whose blood will be the most enticing of all?_

_A pig's blood or a maiden's blood?_

Sasuke braced himself for the worst, expecting to find a bloody mess beyond the door. His stomach twisted in agony at the thought as he kicked the door open.

Immediately the men inside of the small compacted room snarled at the presence of Sasuke. They narrowed their eyes and grabbed guns from their pockets.

He ignored them, knowing that they wouldn't dare inflict damage upon him.

A whimper was heard and something tackled him. Before he could even push away the intruder, a whisper stopped his movements. She tackled him with a hug that made him stagger back a few feet with her wrapped around his upper torso

"Sasuke…"

The sound of her soft melodic voice went through him like shattered glass

The muscle in his jaw started to tic in time to his rapid, angry heartbeat when he saw the blood on Sakura's white dress. Her cheekbone was also swollen and bruised. Her eyes were large and terror filled as she begged him to help her with her gaze. But her hands were the one thing that made him explode.

Bloody

Scraped

Vicious

Pain

A dark chuckle interrupted his thoughts. Sasuke's eyes slide to the man he wanted to kill.

"Sasuke," Orochimaru smiled and walked towards Sasuke. He noticed how he was trembling with ire. So, this girl really meant something to him…something great—

Something powerful

"So, you're finally here,"

Sasuke silently gazed at the sinister man.

"Don't be so rude," Orochimaru stood in front of the demon. "Please, introduce me to your infatuation. I'm _dying_ to learn her name,"

Sasuke moved Sakura behind him, protecting her from the eerie look Orochimaru was giving her and the hungry leers coming from his men. "If you are wise, you will not-"

Orochimaru barked in laughter. "Should it be wise? Or am I just insane?"

Sasuke's gaze hardened on the insane man. "Are you willing to risk your life for a false insanity you're staining your name with?"

Orochimaru smiled eerily and stepped towards Sasuke. He looked at Sakura to see her cowering behind her lover's back. He looked at Sasuke and chuckled. "When I put her in the meat freezer, she screamed till her voice went raw." A glint shone in Orochimaru's eyes. "It was her screams that _enchanted me."_

_It was her voice that enchanted a demon. _

He cast a feral, vicious glare at him that held more venous than a rattlesnake farm. "WhiteTiger, you will restrain yourself from getting yourself killed." His malevolence still clung to the air around them.

Orochimaru stepped back. "Never," And with a simple flick of his wrist, his men sauntered towards the two lovers.

"Leave the girl to me," Karin smiled wickedly. She rubbed her hands together gleefully and cast an evil smirk at Sakura as she threw the knife in her hand up in the air in a calming rhythm. "I can't wait to gorge your eyes out with this knife,"

"Karin," Sakura whimpered.

"Don't call her that," Sasuke retorted softly. He glared at the malicious traitor with the knife in her hands. "Her name is not Karin."

"Shut up!" Karin snarled, thrusting her knife in his direction with a threatening manner. "I am Karin! Karin! Karin! My name is Kari-"

"You're name is _Katsumi_," Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "The twin sister of Karin,"

Orochimaru burst in laughter. "I remember that whore," He wiped at his eyes as if tears of laughter were coming out. "She was the one we killed when she failed to kill Sasuke," Orochimaru smiled at Sasuke. "Do you know what kind of rage took over him, Sakura?"

Sakura didn't say anything. She stood there with her face pressed against Sasuke's back, hiding from the dangerous men.

"He killed forty of my men in one night, avenging for the love of Karin," Orochimaru chuckled mercilessly. "And did that satisfy his vengeance? Of course not," He raised his hand to touch the scar on his face, a wistful look passed by. "He gave me this mark of remembrance."

Sakura removed herself from Sasuke. She then walked around him to look at his pained face. "Is this true Sasuke?"

He looked down at her, sorrow filled his eyes. "I told you that night. I'm not who you think I am. I'm…an animal,"

"Uchiha Sasuke is the gang leader of an infamous group in America. He is BlackDragon, the man who had killed from the age of 15, the man who had slaughtered a happy family when he turned 16, the man who fell in love and watched her die,"

Sasuke's fists tightened. The veins in his arms pulsed out, pushing against his skin. "Karin was a sister to me, she was the one who gave me a reason to exist in this pathetic world," He threw a disgusted look at Katsumi. "Katsumi is nothing to me. Nothing more and nothing less,"

"Sasuke," Katsumi's face was full of anger and pain. "What about that night when you-"

"That night was nothing special. I was drunk and I needed a quick fuck," His crude language shocked Sakura. "You were there and I thought you were some other woman,"

Katsumi snarled. "You bastard!"

Orochimaru held up his hand and smiled sickly. "Uchiha Sasuke is the man who fell in love with a prostitute," He laughed cruelly. "He will watch his love die again," He pulled out a gun and aimed it at Sakura. Sasuke quickly wrapped his arms around her, watching his enemy with unwavering eyes.

_I saw them holding hands_

Katsumi smiled maliciously. "Do it! Kill that bitch!"

_She was standing there with my man_

Orochimaru smiled at Katsumi, a dark evil look consumed his face. "Love you, too,"

_I heard them promise "Till death do us part"_

"What?" Katsumi's smiled disappeared as realization dawned upon her.

_Each word was a pain in my heart_

Quick as lightning, Orochimaru yanked the gun to the side and shot Katsumi in the face. Her body hit the ground with an empty thud and blood immediately flood.

Sakura screamed as she saw the blood and gore. When she saw Katsumi's face, she screamed as if there was no tomorrow. Her glazed eyes stared up at the ceiling in shock as the top of her head was blown off. There was no peaceful look on her face when she died. There was an expression of full betrayal and terror. The blood completely coated the side of her face and the pieces of her head splat on the wall and at the feet of Orochimaru's men. One huge chunk of her head landed at the desk.

Sakura continued to tremble uncontrollably as the images receded.

Sasuke felt like he was dying inside. It was like watching Karin die all over again. He refused to show any emotions as he looked at her dead body, hugging Sakura tighter for comfort.

"About time," Orochimaru smiled as he put away his gun. "She was getting annoying. Ah, but isn't she a nice sexy toy?" He kicked Katsumi's legs and laughed cruelly. "Boy, would I love another chance to have her legs wrapped around me again,"

"Leave her alone," Sakura sobbed. "She doesn't deserve that,"

Sasuke tightened his hold on her. Though he looked completely ill at ease, his gaze softened ever so subtly every time he glanced at Sakura in his arms.

Orochimaru smiled when he saw this. "Kill them."

He clenched his jaw shut as rage took root deep inside him. "Orochimaru," Sasuke warned as the men circled around the distressed lovers. "I'm giving you another chance-"

"My, my, this girl did a good job on you," Orochimaru stepped over Karin's dead body and sauntered to the desk as he pulled out a cigarette. "You've turned too soft," He lit the cigarette and blew a smoke at them. "I love it,"

Sasuke grabbed Sakura's wrist and ran out of the small room and into the warehouse. He jerked his eyes from the left to the right, looking for a way out.

There was nothing.

He cursed and weaved through the warehouse, hiding behind boxes and crates which occupied the area. Sasuke found a corner and harshly shoved Sakura in a box. It was the only way he could keep her safe…for now.

Sakura began to panic as the true horror of her situation dawned on her.

He was going to leave her in here and fight them off.

"No," She growled and tried to push herself out of the box. Sasuke narrowed his eyes and pushed her back inside. "I'm not going to stay here," She kicked out her legs so that the box wouldn't close. "I'm going with you,"

As she opened her mouth to continue her argument, he captured her lips with his and kissed the daylights out of her.

When he pulled away from her, the loving expression on his face hit her like a sledgehammer and left her oddly dazed. "You know what I'll miss the most? Seeing your face before you wake up in the morning," He kissed her once more.

"What?" She said, still dazed from the kisses and words.

"_**I love you,**_" He said in English before he closed the crate shut.

Those words went through her like a dagger.

_I love you_

She laughed at that even though her heart was shriveling at the thought of not seeing him again. Sakura smiled softly and opened the crate.

If death was waiting for her, she was more than ready for it.

Sasuke glared at Orochimaru's men with anger. "If you want to live, I'll give you a chance to escape," As expected, nobody moved.

"Hurry up and come here so we can kick your ass," One of them men smirked.

Another man cast a haughty look in his direction. "He doesn't look that strong,"

An aura of evil rose in the air and it went unnoticed. The man with a haughty look ran to Sasuke, a crazed look on his face. "Now, I'll see what you're worth-" His words were cut off when Sasuke grabbed the knife in his pocket and flicked it at the man. He was down.

A second later, a man came from behind and punched Sasuke.

He responded with a swift kick to the ribs, making the obese man fall down to his knees. Growled a curse and kicked him in the face. The man was out when his neck broke.

Sasuke spat his blood on the floor.

_Face them and fight to the death_

"Get him!" All at once, the men swarmed around Sasuke like a disease, ready to take down this powerful beast.

"Get the girl, too!"

In a panic, Sasuke punched the man who rushed at him. He looked around to see Sakura standing out in the open, a smile played on her face. As if she was ready to take on the fight.

**As if she was ready to die**

"No, your fights with me," He growled out desperately. The pawns of Orochimaru didn't listen. As the group fought with Sasuke, and a handful men went straight for Sakura.

When one man jumped on Sasuke's back, he grabbed him and threw him over his shoulder. He twisted the man's head around until a gruesome crack echoed throughout the warehouse.

Sakura watched with a smile as the men came to her.

"Well, well, well. Look at this small bird," A man grinned. "Why don't you come along behind the barracks and have some fun,"

"Yeah, pull up that pretty dress and we'll show you what kind of fun you can have,"

A small flare inside of Sakura burst as she revealed out a knife from behind her. A flare of determination, adrenaline and power flowed through her veins as a realization dawned upon her.

Today was the day she was going to die—

And she'd be damned if they hurt her and her **lover**.

Sakura ran to one of the men. Her fist was clenched and swung her fist at him.

He caught her wrist as she swung at him, but he wasn't expecting her knee a heartbeat later. It landed straight to his guts. He grunted before he twisted her wrist, causing her grip to become slack. The next thing he knew, she kneed him in the groin. Pain splintered throughout his body as his head bent forward.

The knife in her hand split into his skull a second later.

Fifteen minutes into the fight, his shirt was filthy. Cuts and bruises marred his chest. There was one particularly nasty black bruise that practically covered the whole of his left rib cage. The mark rose up, high onto his chest, all the way to his heart. It had to be killing him to just breathe, and yet he bore his agony with stoicism.

There were still some cuts and bruises on his face, including one cut on his bottom lip

But Sasuke ignored the pain afflicted on his body. All he cared about was Sakura's safety. When he had turned around to see how she was doing, he was shocked.

She had pulled back her fist and punched a man in the face. A sharp sound told her that his nose was broken. Sasuke smiled and went back to his gruesome work, knowing that this time she was able to take care of herself.

When Sakura had broken the man's nose, she shook her hand and winced at the pain on her knuckles. Suddenly, a man grinned awfully as he swung the bat at her. Sakura screeched out as she felt her ribs scream in pain. Numerous cracks reverberated throughout the warehouse.

When Sasuke heard Sakura cry out in pain, he turned away from his enemy to see her fall down to her knees, clutching at her stomach in agony. She was then grabbed by the arms and yanked up to her feet roughly. He took a step towards her, a feral expression on his face.

_Love is a man's downfall_

Instantly Sakura froze, catching sight of what had caused her to become statue still. Her eye's widened when she saw a man jump behind Sasuke with his hand raised. In his death grip was a knife.

"Watch out!"

Sasuke quickly turned around, but he was not fast enough. He felt something sharp slice through his chest. He knew he was dead the instant the blade didn't protrude from his chest. The man twisted the blade sideways and snapped the blade off.

Sakura screamed out loud at the sight of him falling.

Blood spurted from his mouth as the wound from his chest bled like a river.

He lay sprawled in the middle of the clearing, utterly motionless.

Agony and horror assailed her and it awoke the fighter inside of her once more. She screamed and struggled against the hold of the enemy. Sakura threw back her head and ignored the pain when it came in contact with his face. The man cursed and shoved her away. Her rage taking root, she ran at the man who'd stabbed Sasuke.

Before she could reach him, one man turned to fight her. He grabbed her and slapped her hard in the face. She spun around to face him again and acted on pure instincts.

"ARRGGHH!" The man screamed as she clawed at his face, her nails digging deeper every time she lifted her hand. She bit his hand when it neared her face.

"Damn bitch! Let me go!"

The man grabbed her by the hair and threw her to the floor.

When she had hit the floor, he pulled his leg and delivered a painful kick to her ribs. He didn't stop there. He kept kicking at her as if she was an animal. She cried out and crawled away from his kicks. The man whipped out a knife from his pocket and went near her. Sakura screamed like a banshee when he carved a deep gash down her face.

Orochimaru laughed aloud when he saw the two down. Finally, he has come into power.

"Leave Sasuke alone, but get rid of her," Orochimaru smirked as he spun on his hell, leaving the crime scene. "Once you've disposed of her, leave immediately. Don't bother with Sasuke. Once he sees the love of his life dead, he'll soon follow after her,"

"Okay, boss," He answered and moved away from Sakura grudgingly. The man pulled a gun from his pocket and aimed it at Sakura.

She watched with wide eyes as he pulled the trigger without a word.

Sakura cried out as her body was thrown to the floor by the force of the bullet. Such unbelievable pain ripped through her. She laid there on the ground, gasping for breath through her clenched teeth as she held tight to her shoulder. Sakura shrieked in pain when the man kicked her once more.

The animal even stomped hard on the small of her back as he left.

There was silence. Heavy breathing and choking gasps were heard.

"S…Sa…Saku…." Sasuke breathed heavily with pain. He coughed weakly, specks of blood hit the floor as the light dimming within moments. "I…I love…"

"Don't say that," Sakura coughed. "We're not going to die…"

"I'm sorry…"

"Don't be," She smiled bitterly. "I would've never experienced love if I hadn't met you,"

"I…I'm…hnk…" He didn't speak again.

"Sasuke?"

The agony of silence rang through the air.

Sakura felt her tears falling down her cheek. She called out once more but nothing was heard. She called out his name; her voice was softer, weaker.

He still didn't answer.

Even though all she wanted to do was to close her eyes and let Death carry her away from the agony of her body, she refused to leave without holding his hand.

She painfully uncurled herself from the fetal position she was in and began to crawl to Sasuke. Her limbs shaking, she pulled herself across the floor until she reached him. Throughout the journey to him she groaned and cried out in pain when her ribs, shoulder, body twisted in agony.

She was crawling to her knight—

Her knight in bloody armor

A trail of crimson blood followed after her body as she inched slowly towards him.

_I'll always be there with you. _

_Forever and ever? _

_Hand in hand._

Both of them lied there, breathing heavily, aware that their last breath was coming soon. Sakura lay down next to Sasuke, her head resting next to his head. She raised her hand and shakily smoothed out the hair from his face.

He lay on the floor panting, his breathing labored. His face was ghostly pale and covered in sweat while he bled from his wound. He looked so beautiful, with that blood on his face, neck and clothes. Sakura smiled bitterly as tears ran down her face. She badly wanted to cradle him in her arms, but her body screeched against her wishes. Instead, she slowly reached for his hand.

Sasuke coughed, blood sprayed from his mouth.

Sakura wept piteously. There was nothing she could do to save him.

"I'll be with you here, hand in hand until the end," Her throat tightening with emotion. She laid a chaste kiss to his hand. "Hand…in hand,"

He heard her cries through the haze as his vision dimmed.

Sasuke agonizingly turned his head and it lolled to the side. The stench of blood was evident. He looked at Sakura, tears streaming down her cheeks and specks of blood on her face. Her face was deathly pale, a huge purple bruise covering one whole side of her face, her lips were chapped, split and blood dribbled down her chin. Her hair was filled and caked with blood. She had a deep slash wickedly running down her cheek. There was a bullet hole welled deep in her shoulder, blood running down her naked shoulders.

She looked beautiful.

But the most beautiful thing he ever saw was her eyes: because it was full of love.

Sakura gazed at her lover and weakly raised her hand to grasp his sleeve. She tugged him closer to her so that her lips were brushing his ear. "Hng…uck…" A thin stream of blood slithered from the corner of her mouth, making its way downwards. Soon a whole river followed after the blood drop.

They were now soaked in each other's blood.

When the man hit her with the bat, it broke five of her ribs. When the other man stepped on her back as he left, those broken ribs punctured her lungs, causing her to internally drown in her blood right now, causing the blood to flood the floor.

Sakura's head didn't have the strength to keep itself upright and it fell back on the concrete with a smack.

"Ha…nd…in…hand," His hand went limp.

Her sobs filled the quiet night air.

Her head rolled to the side and it was immediately half of her face was smothered with the blood that was gushing out of their wounds. Her eyes drooped down and her vision gets blurry.

She had a whole speech ready. She was ready to tell the whole world how much she loved her mother, she was ready to tell the whole world that her friends were more likely her siblings than merely friends, ready to tell the whole world how much she loved her ex-boyfriend, even when she knew he was cheating on her, her step-family, even though they were negative with her.

She wanted to tell the whole world how she didn't care about all the hurtful things that happened to her:

Because she fell in love

She wanted those precious words to come out of her mouth before she died. Those precious words Sasuke told her twice to this day. Those three words that would make a man cry, those simple three words that would make everybody fill up with sorrow…those simple three words that would make a difference in her small world.

Those three words:

I love you

But instead of that fairytale drama—

She croaked like a frog.

"_**Humans have a greater capacity for sacrifice for those who live in their hearts."**_

_**Fin**_


	16. Epilogue I: Eulogy for an Angel

**Epilogue I: Eulogy for an Angel**

"_**The purpose of life is a life of purpose**_"

The streets were crowded with cars, bikes squeezing through them, seeking for their destination. The air was tainted with smog and a heavy odor coming from the factories nearby. The clouds were heavy and dark with water and sin, the sun hiding behind it in fear of the dirty city. The grim of the city defined the people living, occupying the streets.

"Where is she?" An angry man yelled. His black eyes squinted as he scanned the restaurant with impatience. "I told her to give the damn food to table six!"

"Sumimasen!" The woman squeezed through the customers with a tray in her hands and above her head. She bowed apologetically to the people on table six, her brown hair swishing around her shoulders. "I'm so sorry," She said in Chinese as she laid their orders on the table. Once she finished she bowed to them and smiled. "Enjoy yourselves,"

As she passed by the angry owner, his hand landed on her shoulder. "You are getting lazy!" He scolded at her. "Sakura, you have been dazing off and making this magnificent restaurant slower than it already is! Do you want me to fire you, huh?" He wagged his finger at her bowed head, his sharp eyes glowing with anger. "If I didn't have pity for you I would've kicked you out of here long time ago," With those words, the angry man left Sakura in her aura of sorrow.

She lifted her vivid green eyes, brimmed with tears. Sakura sniffed and went to one of the co-workers in the Noodle shop. "Haku, I'm going to take my break now," She said in Japanese.

Haku smiled softly and nodded. "I'll tell Zabuza-san," But just as she was about to pass by, Haku gently grasped her hand. "Don't worry about Zabusa-san, he's just like this whenever things are tight," He sighed. "Money tight,"

She smiled once more to him, and then moved her way to the back of the Chinese noodle shop. Sakura entered a restroom only reserved for the workers.

"I hate my life," She whispered solemnly and looked into the mirror.

She didn't see the Haruno Sakura she was three years ago—

She saw a dead person.

Sakura lifted her eyes and stared at her reflection in the mirror. Throughout the many days that have passed, her bone structure shifted and moved according to God's plan. She wasn't ugly, and that was a curse in a city full of sin. Her brown hair was straight, cutting off before it hits her shoulders. Her skin was still pale, but the dark bags under her eyes were the only thing against her beauty. Sakura sighed and gently rubbed at the bags. Every night, she would wake up screaming and crying, making Zabuza furious.

It's not that she can't help it—in fact, she can't.

Her hand moved away from the bags and touched the scar running down the side of her face. It was wicked as it sliced near her jawbone. Luckily, for her brown hair, it covered the offensive disfiguration from the views of bystanders.

_Scars are like tattoos but with better stories_

-That is, better tragedies

Sighing wearily, Sakura moved away from the mirror. Depression fell down upon her, weighing down her shoulders until she felt like they were going to break. She moved to the toilet and sat upon it, staring at the ceiling with sad eyes.

It has been three years since she had brushed up against death.

Three years of separation

Three years of isolation

Three years of nightmares

Three years of agony

Three years of death

Three years of her residence in China.

Three years ago, when she had closed her eyes and accepted her demise, she had released herself from the pain and from the suffering she had gone through. When she had closed her eyes, her love has disappeared from her eyes, her life.

_Time goes by, life goes on and all I can think of is why you're gone_

"I'm so pathetic," She sniffed and wiped away the tears that dared to escape from her eyes.

_Tears stream down your face when you lose something you can't replace_

A part of her still expects to see him standing in front of the restroom door, with his dark obsidian eyes smoky with love and affection, his hand resting upon her cheek full of desire and comfort.

_Her romantic mind was like tiny boxes, one within another_

Numerous knockings on the door interrupted her thoughts.

"Sakura! Your break is up! Get out and finish with your job!" Zabuza's voice roared through the door.

She stood up quickly and fixed her hair. Looking into the mirror one last time, Sakura took in a deep breath and then walked outside.

Zabuza grunted as she stepped out. "Took long enough," He grumbled through the cloth that covered half of his bottom face. His black eyes watched as her figure walked away, and he sighed, shaking his head as he entered the kitchen. "That girl has a fucked up life," He had to admit, her life was worse than his.

Haku's head popped out of the kitchen. "Sakura! There's a new customer at table 10!"

Sakura looked at Haku curiously. "Table 10? Nobody has ever sat there before,"

He shrugged and resumed his cooking. "I don't know why, but they insisted sitting there," His brown eyes darted to table 10 and a slight frown appeared on his face. "Be careful, Sakura. The man and the woman look suspicious,"

She sighed and took out a notepad and pen from her apron. "Okay," Sakura bit on her lip as she made her way to table 10 with her head bowed low. She found out the hard way that rich people in China did not like to be looked in the eyes by the lower class.

China was so much different from Japan.

A pang hit her heart as she continued her walk. She dreadfully missed her homeland.

"Welcome to The Noodle Shop," Sakura bowed to the customers as she greeted them in Chinese. As soon as she had straightened she offered them the restaurants' menu, her eyes never straying from the ground. It was snatched from her hands and Sakura kept her eyes glued to notepad in her hands. "What would you like to order?" Her voice trembled.

He was aggravated, restless and annoyed by the woman sitting next to him. Sasuke sneered at her and seized the menus from the quivering waitress. "Yumi, order what you want,"

Yumi pressed against Sasuke's body as she reached for the menu. "What do you want me to…eat?" She whispered in his ear seductively.

He pushed her away. "I'm not in the mood for your useless seductions," His eyes were piercing and sharp as he narrowed his eyes at her.

Noticing the change of demeanor, Yumi pulled herself away from him and opened the menu. "Why are we eating here, anyways?" She huffed and wrapped her finger around one of dark brown tendrils as she glanced around the shop. "This place is filthy," Her eyes wandered to their waitress. "I mean look at her. She's the definition of dirt," She said in Japanese.

They probably didn't know that Sakura was a Japanese native. She ignored the customer's comment, but her hands tightened around the notepad, desperately wanting to be anywhere but here. "Is there anything you want?"

Yumi sneered. "I want udon," She said plainly and threw the menu on the table.

Sasuke opened the menu and his eyes traveled along the paper. He frowned. This place didn't hold any other dishes besides four main ones. "I'll have the dumpling soup,"

"Your orders will be ready within five minutes," Sakura said as she finished scribbling on the notepad.

"Can't you have it done in three?" Yumi pursed her glossy pink lips in question.

Sakura bowed to them. "I'll see what we can do," She quickly walked away before the woman could snap and bicker at her more. She went to the kitchen and leaned against the door, breathing in and out. She was relieved that she was able to run away from the customers.

She couldn't help it; the aura around table 10 was choking her.

"Haku, I don't want to deliver their dishes to them," Sakura approached him, tugging on his sleeve for help. She looked back at the customers she had gotten their orders from. Because table 10 was in the corner of the restaurant, the table was covered in darkness, making it impossible for Sakura to see their faces from where she stood. "There's something weird about the man and woman,"

Haku frowned. "Okay, I'll deliver their dishes to them,"

Sakura smiled in relief. "Thank you so much, Haku," He only shook his head and smiled back at her.

"Useless girl," Yumi glared at the waitress' back as she had retreated in the kitchen. "Who does she think she is? It's rude to not look at the customers in the eye when taking in their order,"

Sasuke sighed and closed his eyes. "Shut up, Yumi," He felt another headache coming to his head and her sweet sugar coated voice was not helping him. His hand brushed through his ebony hair, pulling out tangled knots with his fingers. A familiar dent in his head met his fingers, and he let them hover above the depression, old memories flooding through his head.

There wasn't much in life or death, he had ever cared about.

That was until he found something to cherish and love—

But that was gone now.

He picked up the glass of water on the table, taking in a sip as he stared at the rotten wood.

Ever since that day, he was done with his past life. He was done with the gang life, drug dealings, murder and sex life. Once you've joined, you become a worthless piece of shit because you had just consigned yourself to eternal death.

And he was officially done with that.

After death smiled at him, Sasuke woke up in a hospital in America. His older brother was hovering above him, smirking down at him as Sasuke breathed in pain. What he has been told, was that five minutes after Orochimaru had left the murder scene, Sasuke's gang appeared and rushed him to the nearest hospital. They had taken Sakura to the very same hospital, knowing that Sasuke would be utterly displeased if he learned that they had left her to die.

But a few days later, after his surgery, Sasuke was transported to America, because he wouldn't open his eyes.

He _couldn't_ open his eyes.

Sasuke was in a coma for roughly around four months. And during those four months, his memories faded into dust.

After months, years of recuperation, Sasuke disengaged from BlackDragon, giving his position to another poor fellow. And he travelled the world, looking for a girl named Sakura—

But never knowing how she looked like, how she sounded like, how she smelled like.

Because that was all deteriorated during his time in coma

The only thing he desperately held onto was her name and her personality.

Nothing more, nothing less

"Sasuke," Yumi whined, pouting that his attention was somewhere else rather on hers. She smiled and rested her hand on his arms. Leaning in, her lips brushing against his ears as she whispered rather hotly against it. "Why don't we go somewhere after we finish?" Her hand trailed down his shoulder and onto his thigh, squeezing it suggestively.

Sasuke shoved her hand away. "When I came back to Japan, I meant to find Sakura. I'm dragging you with me to help me. Isn't that what you wanted to do? Or is there more?"

Yumi gave out an exasperated sigh and threw her hands up. "I don't get it. We've been searching for months, three years exactly in total for her and she's not here," She whipped her head to Sasuke. "I don't get it! What's so special about her? What does she have that I don't? Can't you just start all over...with me?" Yumi was furious, she wanted him all for herself, but travelled with him to accompany him in this ridiculous search. She didn't even show a picture to him, yet he was so desperate to find her. She didn't understand.

"She's not dead," Sasuke's furious eyes made Yumi's breath hitch.

"I never said that,"

"It was what you were implying,"

Before Yumi could make the argument between them even hotter, the waitress came with two bowls in hand.

"Here are your orders," Sakura said softly. She cursed all the Gods in the world, cursing them as she laid the bowls on the table. Zabuza had overheard Sakura's plea and made her take the bowls out.

"What the hell is this?" Yumi grimaced as she looked inside of the udon prepared. "Is this even udon? It doesn't look like it!" She picked up her chopsticks and stabbed inside of the bowl, stirring it roughly inside, making the soup splash on the wooden table. "Where are the rice cakes? And the noodles? What the hell is this?" She turned her blue eyes to the waitress. "I'm not eating this,"

"Just eat it," Sasuke said in an emotionless monotone. He picked up the wooden chopsticks and began to eat.

"I'll get your beverages," Sakura bowed to them once more and went across the shop to get their waters. Once she had them in hand, she walked back to table 10 with her eyes plastered to the ground. "Here, are your drinks,"

Yumi, annoyed from the fact that the waitress wouldn't look at them, had enough. She pointed her wooden chopsticks at Sakura. "Hey! You! Look at me and Sasuke-kun! Why are you disrespecting us? You have no idea how much it pisses me off when people ignore me,"

Surprised and shocked, Sakura lifted her head to look at the customers on table 10. The recognition hit her.

"Y-yumi," Her green eyes went wide, but she didn't dare drop the two glasses of water in her hand. Instead of loosening around the cups, her knuckles turned white. A sudden flashback ran through her head.

"_So, you're going to ignore us, I see." Suddenly Yumi, the short-tempered one out of the four, yanked on Sakura's hair, twisting and tangling her finger in it. Yumi jerked Sakura's head back and whispered in her ear. "You have no idea how much that pisses me off." Yumi then slung Sakura on the floor mercilessly._

_Sakura cried out as she landed on her hand, the money flew out from it. She held her numbed hand to her chest, cradling it as it began to throb painfully. Soon her hair plastered against her skull as the rain poured down upon her. The cold water pelted upon her cruelly, causing her clothes to cling to her skin as the water seeped through._

Yumi glared at the waitress. "Do I know you?"

But it was when Sakura looked at Yumi's partner, when she lost it.

Her eyes were pinned into his dark eyes, her hands turned clammy and cold, letting the two glasses in her hands drop to the ground. She ignored the cold water that splashed onto her legs, the sound of breaking glass reverberating throughout the noodle shop. She ignored everything around her: Zabuza's angry yells, Haku's helpless pleas, the customer's wary faces and Yumi's speechless stutters. Sakura ignored everyone, but him-

Sasuke

Sakura took a tentative step towards Sasuke and Yumi, her hand rising up slowly. Her hand barely touched his hair when he jerked back in revulsion.

Sasuke glared at the waitress as she continued to attempt to touch his hair. She wasn't an ugly thing. He glanced at her body, checking to see if he recognized her. He didn't. Looking down at her legs, his chest rumbled in approval. Her hand reached again to touch him, but he jolted back.

Her fingers were awful. Her hands held tiny scars, her skin was ultimately dry, and her nails were cut all the way back and not painted. Sasuke's lip curled. He was getting annoyed.

"Who are you?" He snapped.

Sakura gasped at his hard voice. "S-Sasuke," She stuttered. "Your name is Uchiha Sasuke, isn't it?" She asked desperately. Sakura didn't notice Yumi's eyes widened in shock, her mouth gaping as if she was a fish out of water.

He narrowed his eyes. "Do I know you?"

She gasped as pain engulfed her heart. This was Sasuke, her love from three years ago. Her love that she thought was dead this whole time. The small dimmed candle flared enormous within her. Haruno Sakura will not let go of this opportunity.

"Is there a problem here?" Zabuza walked up to table 10, his gaze upon the customers and waitress.

Sakura ignored him. She rushed up to Sasuke, the glass of water crunching beneath her shoes. Her hands landed on the back of his shirt, fisting, holding him tight as she buried her head in his chest. "Sasuke!" She wailed in agony. "I thought you were dead!" She felt her heart swell in happiness when she felt his arms lift, his hands resting on her shoulder.

But instead of taking her into his warm embrace-

He pushed her away

Sakura yelped when she landed on the ground. Her eyes watered in pain as the shards from the broken glass pricked her palms and drew blood. She looked up at Sasuke with eyes full of alarm. But he didn't do anything besides glowering down at her. Her heart shattered into two. "Don't you remember me?" Her voice trembled as tears streamed down her face.

Yumi looked back and forth between Sakura and Sasuke. He really doesn't remember her; at least her appearance. She grinned maliciously. This was good.

He was still looking at her fiercely and that was what scared Sakura the most. Three years ago, he never gave her that face; he was full of love and affection though he was a dark person. Sakura scrambled on her knees, crawling to Sasuke. She grabbed his pants, tugging it as she plead: "Please! Don't you remember me? It's me! My name is-"

But she was interrupted.

"Is this the way all of your waitresses treat your customers?" Yumi snarled at the owner besides the girl she absolutely knew.

Zabuza glared at the back of Sakura's head, but she ignored him. "Sasuke! It's me! It's-"

Yumi laughed loudly in sarcasm. "Do you want to get sued old man? I swear I will remove you from this restaurant and press charges for assaulting and touching a customer!"

"I…I'm sorry," Zabuza apologized with a growl. He strode up to Sakura and grabbed both of her arms. Sakura screamed and struggled in his grasp, but he didn't loosen his grip. He growled in irritation and then turned to the dark haired customer. "I'm sorry, but do you recognize this woman? It seems like she will never leave you alone until that is confirmed,"

Sakura stopped her movements, her eyes pinned into his dark orbs.

"_**The silence scares me because it screams the truth"**_


	17. Epilogue II: Autumns Monologue

**Epilogue II: Autumns Monologue**

"_**The heart that truly love never forgets"**_

_After a while you learn the difference_

Sasuke looked down at the girl who dared to touch him with her filthy hands. He wiped his shirt as if there was grim and dirt on it from the waitress. He looked straight into her eyes, grunted in disgust and then moved onto the owner's eyes.

"No,"

_Between holding a hand and falling in love_

Her heart stopped.

_You begin to learn that kisses don't always mean something_

Zabuza bowed slightly to the man and woman. "I'm very sorry," He then dragged Sakura towards the front of the restaurant, a full one hundred percent frown plastered on his face.

_Promises can be broken just as quickly as they are made_

Sakura didn't struggle as he hauled her away. She stared at the man she loved as he was getting wiped by her step-sister's friend: her enemy.

_And goodbyes really are forever-_

"That's it, you punk," Zabuza scowled. "This is the last time I'm taking in trouble because of you," He stopped on a street in front of the restaurant and threw her to the ground. "You're done with. I cannot take in anymore of your antics!" With those last words, he spun on his heel and strode to the store. "If you ever lay a foot in here, I will personally take you to the police station!"

Sakura sat there on the ground, ignoring the curious looks the bystanders gave her. She then looked down at the ground and sobbed uncontrollably, her tainted, bloody hands clutching at her chest. Small dots appeared on the ground, making the concrete a slight color darker. Soon it was all dark.

The rain fell down upon the crushed girl

_The saddest thing in life is loving someone who used to love you_

Sasuke wiped at the dirt on his shirt with the napkin the owner of the restaurant provided. A few seconds ago, Yumi had excused herself rather quickly to use the restroom.

The woman stared at herself in the mirror, her brown eyes taking in her hazard appearance. "I can't believe it," She mumbled. "Haruno Sakura is really alive," Yumi fisted her hands, glaring at the mirror with hard eyes. "I can't let her take away Sasuke-kun. I worked this hard to be with him," With those words, she exited the restroom.

Sasuke was in the middle of removing the blood stains from his shirt. He didn't feel a bit of pity for the woman who cut her palms on glass because of him. He was heartless, ruthless, and merciless.

"Here, let me help you," She grabbed her napkin and tried to wipe off the tarnish shirt.

Sasuke pushed away her hands, curling his lip. "I don't need your help for this," He growled and continued with his shirt. "The only thing I need you to help me is to look for Sakura,"

Yumi threw her hands up in the air. "Here we go again," She faced Sasuke. "I told you many times. She has blue eyes and brown hair, she's tan and she heavily rounded," Yumi extended her arms as if to show Sasuke Sakura's body proportion.

He threw the napkin on the table with anger. "Why can't I remember her? Why can't I remember how she looks like," Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the table. "Why do I only remember her name?"

"Maybe," Yumi started, her hands reaching forward to clasp Sasuke's hands. "Maybe, it's time to let her go,"

Snarling, Sasuke removed his hands from Yumi's grasp. "Maybe it's time to let _you_ go, since you cannot help me any further,"

Her eyes started tearing up. "Sasuke, you can't mean that. I'm always here for you,"

"Like a damn weed," He ignored her sniffles and tears.

"But ever since you've awaken, I've always been there for you! I'll always stay by your side forever and ever," She grabbed his hand with desperation. "We'll survive the future with our hands together," Yumi intertwined their fingers together.

"Release me, you nuisance," Sasuke ripped his hands away from Yumi. "Get away from me,"

She merely sat there, the corner of her lips turning downwards.

"Useless woman," He growled and dipped his napkin in the glass of water to dry to remove the stain on his shirt. The damn thing wouldn't come off and that was pissing him off. Sasuke snarled and dabbed at the blemish.

_I'll always be there for you_

But as soon as the papery substance touched his shirt, a severe, pounding ache in his skull echoed in every single part of his body. The napkin dropped from Sasuke's hand as he raised a trembling hand to his temple. The intensity of the ache throbbed and molded tenfold.

_Forever and ever?_

His ears were buzzing as he slowly blinked open his eyes and tried to focus them. Sasuke heard soft voices talking, very faint and distorted, but understood. The sounds were soft and loving, and something within him erupted.

_Hand in hand_

He winced as the pain pricked him continuously.

"Hey, are you alright?" A soft hand was placed on his shoulder.

He blinked a couple of times, his breath heavy. His hand went to his head and he stared intently to a brown spot on the floor.

**-BBBBZZZZTTTT-**

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**[SNAP SHOT]**

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**[ZOOM X10]**

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**[ZOOM X20]**

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**[ZOOM X100]**

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**CLICK!**

His memory was forwarding instantaneously and coming back just as fast. An image of a woman appeared in his mind and he concentrated on her, thinking of possibilities of who she was. Sasuke's eyes concentrated harder on the brown spot. His eyes were blank and dark as images receded through his brain, bringing up reminiscence of the past.

_You were my cure_

She had just enough meat on her to satisfy a man

**There was a bullet hole welled deep in her shoulder, blood running down her naked shoulders**

_I was your disease_

Tendrils of pink caressed her porcelain skin

**Her hair was filled and caked with blood**

_I was killing you_

She had a floral essence surrounding her as if it were natural

**The stench of blood was evident**

_You were saving me_

Her smile made his heart swell and expand

**Her lips were chapped, split and blood dribbled down her chin**

_Now, I'm all alone_

She began to burst into laughter, clutching her sides.

**Tears streaming down her cheeks and specks of blood on her face**

_Withstanding this unbearable pain_

Such sad, sad eyes

**But the most beautiful thing he ever saw was her eyes: because it was full of love**

**...**

**...**

**...**

**[Zoom Out x10]**

**...**

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"Hey!" Yumi shook his shoulder hard, making him snap out of his daze. She knelt down next to him, her eyes full of concern. "Are you okay?"

Sasuke looked up at Yumi, his eyes staring deep into her own until she blushed from the attention he was giving her. "Are you okay? Is your head hurting?" Her hand rose up, brushing away the locks of hair that brushed against his forehead. But before her hand touched his hair, his hand smacked hers away.

He glared at her with a heat of a thousand suns. "You knew it was her but you didn't say anything,"

Yumi gasped and backed away from him. "Sakura," She whispered under her breath. Sasuke heard and narrowed his eyes.

The chair he was sitting on was knocked back as he raced outside of The Noodle Shop, chasing after a dream that life has killed….

Almost killed-

She walked down the street, sobbing as the rain pelted down upon her. Sakura walked into an alley and slumped against one of the brick walls. She cried harder, gripping the wig on her head. "Sasuke," She whispered broken heartingly as she removed the wig. Her pink hair was wet, clinging to her face like a second skin.

She wanted to die

All her reason of existence demolished away when Sasuke had pushed her away: Rejection.

She put her forehead to her knees and sobbed. All the pent up sadness, grief and anger was all released at this moment of her life. Ten minutes later, she gathered the left over strength she had and stood. She then walked down the lonely abandoned street, feeling comforted—

For they both had been abandoned.

"Sakura!"

_Clouds heavy with rage_

"Sakura!"

_Rain deep with forgiveness_

Just before she turned the corner, Sakura's head lifted up when she heard her name screamed in desperation through the rain. Sorrowfully, she turned around, assuming that Haku was running through the streets with her belongings in hand. But her eyes widened and the wig dropped to the wet concrete with splatter. "S…Sasuke…"

It streamed through his veins and screamed out in shattering waves that tore him apart. He came to a stop in front of her, breathing in harshly as he looked at the twenty one year old woman standing in front of him. He snapped. Sasuke reached for her sleeve and pulled her against him roughly. "Sakura," He whispered against her head, holding her tightly as if she was going to fly out his arms any moment now. "Sakura," He repeated once more, his voice cracking.

_The proudest spirit can be broken with love_

"S-Sasuke," Sakura lips quivered and her arms, shaking violently, managed to wrap around his body. "Sasuke!" She screamed into his chest as her body trembled fiercely. Her hand fisted at the back of his white shirt, holding him tight against her small frame. Her bloodied hands leaving her vitality marked on the fabric. Sakura opened her mouth and howled in grief. "Sasuke!"

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry," Sasuke repeated many times, as the images of him pushing her away role played in his mind. "I love you so much, I'm so sorry," He pulled her away from him, landing rough kisses on her mouth.

Sakura returned his hard kisses, all the pent up sorrow, agony, frustration and anger releasing in a full blast. She clawed at his shirt, tip toeing on her feet, her mouth smashing against his as Sasuke held her even tighter. A cry was muffled as Sasuke molded their bodies together. Her hands felt good on his naked skin, soothing away his past and present demons as he leaned into her touch. He would give anything to keep those precious hands on his body.

"Don't you ever leave me!" Sakura pulled away from his embrace, holding his face between her bloodied hands. "If you leave me, I will follow you through the fires and flames of hell!" Her fierce eyes told him that she held a promise to those words.

And he loved her for that.

"I will never leave you, and you will never leave me," He removed her hands from his face and kissed her two bloodied palms. Once he did that, he cupped her face between his hands. "I will follow you through the rocky terrains of the desert just for you,"

_Because Heaven is Hell without you_

The two lovers stood there in the rain, purifying their tainted souls.

The love between the two was inevitable.

"_**You don't realize how strong a person really is until you see them at their weakest moment"**_

"What happened to you," His voice trailed off solemnly. "After that…day…"

They were in a hotel room Sasuke had bought during his trip in China. It wasn't elegant and rich, but it wasn't dirty and ghetto. They laid on the white bed after changing their wet clothes to dry ones. Since Sakura's belongings were still in The Noodle Shop, she was forced to wear Sasuke's clothes. The two lovers faced were under the sheets. Sasuke was lying on his back as Sakura was using his arm as a pillow, her nose grazing his jaw line from time to time. Their interlocked hands rested on his stomach. After discussing about Sasuke's travel, they moved on to Sakura's life.

Sakura's thumb rubbed against his palm as she struggled to put her words together. "I died as nothing—nobody,"

He was silently fuming in anger.

"After…I had entered the hospital, they ran many surgeries on me. I suffered from three broken ribs, a concussion, collapse lung, fractured skull and a damaged shoulder." She started.

"How did you pay for all of that?" Sasuke shifted his head and glanced at the top of her head. She refused to look up at him.

"Remember when Ami and my step-father wanted to disown me?"

He nodded grudgingly. "Yes,"

"Well, they hadn't file the papers immediately," Sakura bit the bottom of her lips as the memories flowed back to her in waves. "And because they didn't file the papers, it meant that I was still legally their daughter, keeping the family name. And even if they didn't want to," She hesitated. "They were forced to pay for everything,. And then…"

He didn't say anything. Sasuke continued to rub her back, comforting her with what he could do.

"And then they ran me out of Japan," She finished.

The circles he was creating on her back stopped dead. "What?" He sat up and looked down at her head. She still didn't look at him. "How can they do that? Why?"

"They paid for my medical expenses, but that doesn't mean that they had all the money to pay for it. Basically, my step-family refused to pay for it," Sakura explained. "They barely had the money to pay for it. So, in return, the hospital contacted the government. One day, the government took all of their belongings. Including the house," Her voice tightens with emotion as she expelled a shaky breath, burrowing her face in his chest. "They even sold Aristotle to some dog fight. They were so furious,"

"What did they do?"

"They went to one of the highest courts, taking my case to supreme levels. Ami and my step-father used many evidence to kick me out of Japan." Sakura narrowed her eyes. "They told the judges that I was infiltrating with a gang in America, planning to murder and kill all the Japanese people in my city,"

Sasuke frowned, his hand landing on her head. "But you're not,"

She nodded against his chest. "That is what the judges thought, too. But…"

"But?"

"Idate had pictures…of the both of us together," Sakura whispered.

Sasuke felt anger pulsing through him. "The pictures of me and you kissing," He stated.

She nodded. "So, the court couldn't do anything to save me. They saw a pathetic girl, who couldn't do anything else to save herself from going to jail. Luckily, the judges took pity on me. So, instead of locking me within the confinements of jail, they banished me from Japan," She finished.

Sasuke's arms tightened around her small form. "I'm so sorry,"

"Don't be," She laughed bitterly. "If I hadn't been banned from Japan, I would've never worked in The Noodle Shop, Zabuza-san would've never given me a place to stay, inside of The Noodle Shop I would've never met Haku,…and I would've never," Sakura bit down on her lip hard, her voice tightening with emotion. "I would've never reunited with you again,"

_At the end of the world where angels weep_

_There are broken fragments of dreams which you seek_

Sasuke took in a shaken breath. "I never thought this day was to come," Her head moved, looking deep into his dark eyes. "When did you leave Japan?"

"Three years ago," She answered, her eyes closing in contentment.

"Did you get to finish school?" His chest rumbled.

There was a moment of hesitation. "No, I'm a high school dropout," She sighed in depression. "The school didn't want me to continue my education, because they thought I would bring harm to the students. The court agreed to it and banished me three days after the verdict. I got a job here because one of the judges, Tsunade, felt sympathy for me. She was generous enough to give me a job and shelter to keep me from the evils of the world. Though it might not be the best, I'm still alive," Sakura laughed sourly.

"I'm so sorry, Sakura." Sasuke looked away from her, his eyes straying into the window, staring out at the miserable weather. "Because of me, I-"

"No," She growled and lifted away from his body. "Don't say that," Her eyes snapped with fire as she glared down at Sasuke fiercely. "Because of you, I'm happy. Because of you, I'm satisfied with my life, though it may be crappy. Because of you, I have fallen in love. Because of you, I have experienced joy and pain. So don't be sorry, because I'm content with everything that has happened."

Sasuke felt one of the corners of his lips curl upwards. He smiled and tucked back a lock of pink hair behind her ear. But he froze at the sight of the scar running along her jaw line. Fury throbbed through his body. "Is this from…."

Sakura pulled away from his hand and looked away, ashamed and embarrassed for the one thing that made her ugly. She felt tears began to brim her eyes and immediately she wanted to run. But when she tried to get off the bed, Sasuke heaved her back into his arms. One of his hands was at the base of her neck, pulling her close to his face.

His kissed along the scar, down to her jaw line. His soft lips traveled to the corner of her lips. "You are a strong woman. And this is proof of it," He landed a kiss on her mouth. "And the hardships we went through for the sake of our love,"

Sakura smiled widely. He drew in a long, ragged breath and waited for what was inevitable. She leaned down to kiss him lightly on the cheek. He couldn't breathe as desire roared through him. The beast inside him roared with possessiveness.

"Have I ever told you how much I love you?" Sasuke smirked.

Sakura giggled. "How about you show me?"

Sasuke let out a playful growl and flipped them over; he was hovering above her, enjoying the shock look on her face. Sakura let out a squeal as Sasuke had pinned her wrists on the bed. He leaned his head down, his lips skimming on her neck, feeling her neck pulsing quickly. "You have no idea how much love I will show you today. You won't even have the strength in your sexy legs of yours to walk,"

But it was her legs that slightly clicked his memories back in The Noodle Shop.

Her viridian eyes widen. "You pervert!"

He only chuckled and silenced her words with his lips. "I'm the pervert that will always be there with you, for you," He recited seriously. Love glowing on his face.

Sakura smiled against his lips. "Forever and ever?" She whispered softly against his lips.

"Hand in hand," He finished, his eyes glowing in sincerity. He closed the distance between them, finally ending the horrid chapters of their life.

And **neither** the angels in heaven above,

_She was leaning into Sasuke's kiss with her hands clenching tightly to the front of his shirt_

**Nor** the demons down under the sea,

_He captured her lips with his and kissed the daylights out of her._

Can **ever **dissever my soul from the soul

_One of the corners of Sasuke's lips curved upwards; he was smiling_

Of the **beautiful** Annabel Lee

_Haruno Sakura & Uchiha Sasuke_

"_**Forever and ever, hand in hand"**_

**Fin**

**OLD POST: **A/N: I can't believe I finished this story within half a year :) That makes me really, really happy! As I have told you guys before, I was seriously addicted to this story. SERIOUSLY! Just for you (and me) I stayed up throughout Spring Break, typing away furiously on my keyboard just to release my inner emotions and desires for this story.

As I was writing Eulogy for an Angel, I fell in love with my characters. I nurtured them, loved them, and created them and their emotions. At first, I was kind of frustrated with myself because the love between Sakura and Sasuke was so slow! But then, if I had abruptly made them fall in love with each other, this story wouldn't work. Their love has to be created between the two of them because it is pure and true. If they quickly fell in love, it wouldn't be love: it would be infatuation.

Oh, man. At first, I wanted the story to finish with a death scene. Because (like **Fratzl** had reviewed) it was beautiful. The love between Sasuke and Sakura is "beautiful, achingly sweet love". You can see that the two of them were more than willing to die for one another, knowing that they cannot live without each other. I truly loved the ending, and _I did aim for tears_! :) Seriously, I was **crying** myself as I was typing that chapter, because even though it was sad, it was tragically beautiful.

BUT, even though I was satisfied with a sad ending, I didn't want to leave it like that. So, I made an epilogue. At first I wanted to make two epilogues: one happy ending, and one sad ending, but it wouldn't work out, because my inspiration was straight on dead for one. Though, I preferred leaving the story the way it was, I was curious to see how it would turn out if they were still alive.

(sigh) You have no idea how much I love this story. The chemistry, the scenes, the love, the death, the sorrow, the grief, the bastards who deserve to be in hell, the two main characters…(smiles softly) I feel like this is the BEST story I have written by far. I managed to capture everything and type it down. (scratches head sheepishly) Now, I feel conceited, but I can't help it!

So this is the ending for Eulogy for an Angel.

And all of those who loves Sakura X Sasuke, go check out my other story: An Endless Forbidden Love. For what I have in mind for the two lovers (grins evilly), I have a lot for them to go through.

So, ja ne!

And those who stayed throughout the end of the story, thank you so much! Because you reviewed every single chapter and stayed with me, you gave me the hope to continue with this story. Honestly, I thought this story was going to be a dead attraction since it didn't get many reviews in the beginning. But as I continued, everything got better :)

**Thanks for those who stuck by me through my tough times (;**

**The eulogy is now back up :D **


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